POTKM Volume 10: The Haunting in Aincrad
by AndrewK9000
Summary: Kairi finds herself trapped in the world of Alfheim Online and must rely on the help of Kirito, Asuna and their fellow players in order to return to the real world. Meanwhile, Lady Darklight's assault on The Realms of Light relentlessly continues. Who will survive?
1. Prolog: Darkness Grows, Light Shines

_Greetings fellow readers and writers! This is the tenth volume of Path of the Keyblade Master and I hope you like it! Okay, last time we left on a major cliffhanger with Sora and the others separated by the vile machinations of Columbina and Lady Darklight, sending half our heroes to a random world, while Columbina had Kairi sent to one of her minions to suffer a horrific death. Back in the realms of Light, Columbina started her assault on the world by having Lady Darklight smash the Keyhole of Agrabah._

 _We will be continuing with Columbina's dark campaign, but also focusing on Kairi as she tries to escape Columbina's vile plan for her, which has sent her to the world of Sword Art Online. When I first saw SAO I initially thought 'hmm, an anime about players trapped in an MMORPG, now what does this remind me of?' I had flashbacks of .hack/sign, a show that I liked at first, but as the story progressed and became more and more confusing, I fell out of it._

 _But by the end of episode one of SAO, I was hooked, especially with the second half of the season, which I watched in a single-day marathon. I've yet to see any of SAO 2, don't ask why, so this story will take place some time after the end of season one._

 _Also involved in this story are elements inspired by one of my favorite rides at Disney World, that being_ The Haunted Mansion _. While the movie adaptation of the ride failed miserably, especially when compared with Pirates of the Caribbean, the ride itself still holds true and is, was and always be, one of Disney's best._

 _There's also elements of H.P. Lovecraft's Cuthulhu Mythos and some bits from the Saw moves, just to make things more interesting._

 _Now I don't own either Kingdom Hearts, Sword Art Online or anything else except the original character which I've created, so please don't sue me, I'm only trying to tell a good story. And so, without further delay, let the game begin!_

 **Prolog: Darkness Grows, Light Shines**

… **Castle Oblivion…**

"Now, I'm ready," said Lady Darklight as she walked back into what was the Interocitor room, followed by Columbina. It had been twenty-four hours since Lady Darklight had used her insidious powers to smash open the Keyhole of Agrabah, unleashing a global flood of darkness and Heartless that consumed the home of Aladdin and Jasmine.

"Rested up, are we?" Regina asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, yes," said Lady Darklight, "amazing what a nice nap and a good read will do for you."

"You insolent brat!" snapped Columbina, "you slept for ten hours, red comic books for six, then slept another eight, in between you ate enough food for three grown men."

"I hope you left something in the fridge," said Dio Brando, "us villains gotta eat after all."

"You'd better not have had that chocolate cake," said Lady Tremaine, "I was saving that because I was nauseated by that precooked, mini-mall rotisserie chicken."

"I told you we should have gone to a real supermarket," said Sephiroth, "but you just had to go jewelry shopping. And you wasted a lot of cash as well."

"Can I help it if I have expensive tastes?" Lady Tremaine asked as she showed off a new diamond bracelet with matching earrings.

"Never mind that poppycock!" said Columbina, "Lady Darklight is, at last, ready to continue her conquest of the Realms of Light," she then looked Lady Darklight, "aren't you, my dear?"

"Didn't I just say I was ready?" Lady Darklight asked as she did some stretches, "say, where's Leslie? I'd like to kill one of his doppelgangers before getting back to work, it'll help put me in the mood."

"He hightailed it outta here yesterday," said Dio Brando.

"The fop waited until you were asleep before running like the cowardly trickster he is," said Lady Tremaine, "all to get away from you."

"When you make enemies, kido, you make'em," said Dio Brando.

"I'm sure Leslie will return soon," said Columbina, "after he's completed his search for the remaining missing powers. But back to the business at hand! Which world will you travel to, to sunder its Keyhole?"

"Haven't decided yet," said Lady Darklight, "there's so many."

"Will this help alleviate your dilemma?" Young Xehanort asked as he activated a 3D holographic map of The Realms of Light, highlighting the orbits of the individual worlds. Where Agrabah should be was only a sphere of pure black.

"It does help, slightly," said Lady Darklight as she walked around the hologram suspended above the gathered villains.

"'Slightly!?'" said an outraged Insano, "it took me all night to create that hologram! And I had to miss some of my favorite prime time shows in the process!"

"Just watch them on demand," said Dio Brando, "or online, everything gets online sooner or later."

"You should forgot television altogether," said Lady Tremaine, "it's a waste of time, energy and it rots your brain."

"Bah! My brain is rot proof!" said Insano, "I installed a shield inside my skull years ago!"

"Of course you did," said a slightly disturbed Lady Tremaine.

"You know what will help?" asked Lady Darklight. With a wave of her hand, the holographic map changed into a holographic dartboard, marked with symbols for each world.

"Hey! I worked really hard on that!" snapped Insano, "how dare you warp it to your own sick needs!?" He then paused in thought, "though a dartboard would make things more interesting."

"Glad you we see eye to eye," said Lady Darklight as she summoned a set of darts, aimed one at the holographic board and threw it, smiling as the dart hit a random world.

"Well, isn't that ironic," said Young Xehanort as he and the others looked at the chosen world, "and here I thought that world would never experience darkness."

* * *

… **Twilight Town…**

"Just heard from Vivi," said Hayner as he, Pence and Olette walked through the streets of their home town, "all that's left is a few more parts to put in and The _Voyaging Light's_ as good as new."

"Thank goodness," said Pence, "I'm glad that Cid sent her back so we could finish fixing her ourselves."

"And this time we didn't use any parts a certain someone bought off the back of a truck," said Olette.

"Hey! I paid good munny for those parts!" said Pence, "and even more munny for the new parts!"

"Yeah, but these parts are legit," said Olette.

"It doesn't matter how the ship gets fixed," said Hayner, "what does is that we're finally getting back on track. Once _The Voyaging Light_ is ready, we'll head back to Radiant Garden, ask Cid to install a dimensional driver or whatever it's called and catch up with Sora's group. And this time, we'll fight with them all the way."

"They've found two missing powers already, last I heard," said Pence, "you thing we'll really make a difference in finding the rest?"

"Of course we will," said Olette, "if anything, we'll help find them sooner."

"And once we've helped save the Princesses of Heart, we go after the other baddies and stop them once and for all," said Hayner.

Just then the trio of friends felt the ground tremble.

"Earthquake!" exclaimed Pence as he ran for the nearest doorframe.

"No, it's not an earthquake," said Olette in a serious tone, "it's something else."

"Whatever it was, it came from the Old Mansion," said Hayner, "come on!" with that he, Pence and Olette ran through the streets, past the woods and onto the edge of the front lawn of the Old Mansion, where they saw Columbina, Lady Darklight, along with Young Xehanort, Regina and the other villains.

"You just had to make a dramatic entrance," said Sephiroth irately to Columbina, "anyone who felt that energy discharge will know something rotten is happening."

"This coming from the man who likes to launch sneak attacks from above and impale victims," said Columbina.

"It's my thing," said Sephiroth stubbornly.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Gaston asked in a bored tone.

"I'm positive," said Columbina, "the Keyhole is right underneath the house."

"Now who would build a house atop a Keyhole?" Dio Brando asked, "that's just stupid in my book."

"As if anyone would read a book written by a degenerate like you," said Columbina, "no, this is definitely the location of the Keyhole. No doubt the mansion was built to conceal it."

"Not for much longer," said Lady Darklight as she raised her hands. As if a giant eraser was being used, the Old Mansion began to disappear, a few pieces here, a window there, an entire room there.

"Why not just blow the damn thing up?" Gaston asked impatiently as he charged his hands with destructive energy.

"And rain deadly fragments down on us? I think not!" said Lady Tremaine, "need I remind you that you yourself was recently resurrected?"

"Don't remind me," muttered Gaston, "if I ever see that Fontaine freak, I'll mount him on my wall!"

"You already said that," remarked Lady Darklight as she continued to erase the Old Mansion, "don't worry, I'll have this shack cleared away soon."

"Hold it right there!" shouted Hayner as he, Pence and Olette, emerged from hiding with their weapons ready, Hayner with his sword, Pence with his fist-shields and Olette with her staff.

"What's this? The local citizens on patrol?" asked Lady Tremaine in a mocking tone, "how pathetic!"

"Only a fool would mock a hero without thinking," said Regina, "these three were on Radiant Garden during the Zangyack invasion."

"We remember you guys too!" said Pence, he then looked at Young Xehanort, "but not you. What, are you the new guy?"

"New and old, depending on how you look at it," said Young Xehanort.

"I don't remember you two either," said Olette as she looked at Columbina and Lady Darklight.

"Nor I know you two," said Columbina.

"They're friends of Sora," said Regina.

"That's all I need to know," said Columbina grimly.

"You want me to render them into oblivion?" Lady Darklight asked.

"No, you carry on, my dear," said Columbina, "expose the Keyhole. Leave the rabble to the others."

"Oh, we're rabble now?" Hayner asked, "we've fought plenty of Heartless and villains!"

"We're no pushovers!" said Pence as he, Hayner and Olette, assumed fighting stances.

"We'll see about that," said Columbina, "oh, Regina! Would and your cohorts in villainy be dears and destroy these intruding brats?"

"No," said Regina calmly.

"What?" Columbina asked irately.

"No, we will not do your dirty work," said Regina as she confidently crossed her arms.

"As much as we would enjoy roughing up those three kids," said Gaston, "we're not taking orders from you."

"Not even if you asked politely," said Lady Tremaine.

"I did ask politely, you twit!" snapped Columbina, "now get off your high horses and eviscerate those three!"

"You want them dead, do it yourself!" insisted Regina.

"I've got no qualm against following her orders," said Dio Brando as he cracked his knuckles, "leave them to me."

"I feel like stretching my legs too," said Sephiroth as he unsheathed Masamune.

"Mind if I tag along?" Insano asked, "I've got a few minor gadgets of mine I'd like to try out."

"Let me guess, killbots?" a slightly annoyed Regina asked.

"As a matter off fact, yes!" exclaimed Insano as a dozen humanoid robots, all armed with laser cannons and rocket launchers, teleported into the area.

"Meet the Mark 42 Killbots!" exclaimed Insano, "new and improved!"

"AWAITING ORDERS!" said the lead Killbot.

"Ventilate those heroic fools!" said Insano as he pointed at Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"ORDER ACCEPTED!" said the lead Killbot as it and its eleven fellow robots saluted, "HAVE A NICE DAY!"

At that the metal monstrosities fired their lasers and rockets at Hayner, Pence and Olette. Only a hastily cast shield spell from Olette saved their lives, only for Hayner to have to dodge a sword thrust from Sephiroth, while Pence got in front of Olette and blocked several of Dio Brando's thrown knives.

Olette then cast a barrage of fireballs at the Killbots, yet her spell barely dented the creatures as they reloaded their rocket launchers and charged their laser cannons.

"I think we're in trouble!" shouted Hayner as he was forced on the defensive by Sephiroth's vicious attacks, blocking each slice and thrust from the one-winged angel, yet it was clear that the vicious villain was toying with Hayner.

"Is it that obvious!?" Pence shouted as he blocked more rockets with his shield, while Olette tried a Blizzard spell against the Killbots, yet the malicious machines seemed immune to the intense magical cold.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions!" said Olette. She then cast a Thunder spell on the Killbots, yet they seemed immune to electricity.

"I think we should…WATCH OUT, OLETTE!" shouted Hayner as he realized that Sephiroth had vanished, only to appear above Olette with Masamune aimed downward to impale her.

 **BANG!**

An earsplitting gunshot sounded through the area and Sephiroth was hit in the midsection, knocking him away from Olette. The one-winged angel regained his balance and hovered in midair, sore but otherwise unharmed.

"Blast, I thought I'd got the bugger," said a gruff voice from the edge of the woods. There stood a man in his late 40's with short black hair, brown eyes, wearing a black boulder derby, a blue SeeD uniform, chewing on a cigar and carrying a very large riffle. He was tall, well over six feet and muscular that was slowly but inevitably going to pot.

"You'll have to better than that to take out Sephiroth," said a girl's voice. Standing next to the man with the riffle was a girl, about 17 with long, dark blond hair tied in a braid. She had green eyes, multi-colored eye shadow, lip-gloss and nail polish, wore a blue SeeD uniform and carried a serrated-edged spear.

"Who the hell are you freaks?!" exclaimed Insano.

"That's rich, coming from the biggest freak in the bunch," said the man with the riffle, "for the record, the name's Sgt. Jefferson Rhodes."

"And I'm Pfc. Yvette Harrison," said the girl with the spear, "SeeD Team Gamma 19, assigned to Twilight Town."

"SeeD has operatives on Twilight Town?" Young Xehanort asked.

"We've got teams all over The Realms of Light," said Pfc. Yvette Harrison.

"Don't bloody expose our operations to the enemy!" exclaimed Sgt. Jefferson Rhodes, "And you're only an acting Private First Class until you pass your finals! And grow up a bit"

"What are you talking about?" Yvette Harrison asked.

"You know what I'm talking about, young lady," said Jefferson Rhodes, "and for bloody sake's, do something about your makeup!"

"What's wrong with my makeup?" Yvette asked.

"You look like you're auditioning for a birthday clown position!" said Jefferson Rhodes.

"I do not!" said Yvette, "and you are on the fast track to a date with the undertaker!" she then snatched Jefferson's cigar and threw it to the ground, "don't you know those things will kill you!"

"What I do with my own bloody body is my own bloody business, young lady!" said Jefferson, "and don't you change the subject!"

"Okay, what is going on here?" Regina asked, "who the hell are these people?"

"Oh, that's right," said Pence, "they're father and daughter."

"Yvette's parents are divorced and her mother retained her maiden name," said Olette, "but Yvette ran away to join SeeD."

"And as luck would have it," said Hayner, "she got stuck with her father as her mentor."

"And I'll thank you bloody much to not gossip about personal family business!" said Jefferson irately.

"Well, you brought it up in the first place!" said Yvette.

"Don't change the bloody subject!" snapped Jefferson.

"And would it kill you to stop using the word 'bloody' in ever sentence?!" snapped Yvette.

"Would it kill you to not sound like your blood mother?!" exclaimed Jefferson.

 _ **"THE WORLD!"**_

Reality changed color like a photo negative for an instant and everyone in the area was frozen in place, except for one.

"Time has been stopped," said Dio Brando smugly as he walked over to the bickering father and daughter, frozen in mid-argument.

"Idiots," said Dio Brando as he pulled out a double handful of knives, "if you were going to carry on like this, you shouldn't have been paired in the first place. Still, at least you'll be together in death." He then prepared to throw his knives at Yvette and Jefferson, knowing that the knives would freeze in time just inches from the bickering father and daughter, that the knives would impale them when time resumed its normal flow.

 **"DYNAMO KICK!"**

In a flash of electric energy, Dio Brando was knocked away from Yvette and Jefferson with enough force to send him tumbling across the lawn and back to normal time, while his knives clattered to the ground.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Dio Brando as he picked himself off the ground.

"What the…oh, it's you, Anders," said Jefferson as he pulled out another cigar and began chewing on it.

There in front of the bickering father and daughter stood a well muscled man in his early 20's wearing a more streamline version of the blue SeeD uniform, one form fitting to allow greater freedom of movement. He had blue eyes with a shaved head, while on his hands were fingerless gloves studded with metal spikes that crackled with electricity, while his boots were also studded with electric spikes.

"Sorry I'm late," said the man with the crackling gloves and boots, "I had to charge up my Boost."

"Who the hell is this freakazoid?" asked Insano.

"Lance Cpl. Derek Anders," said the man with the crackling items, "but you can call be Dynamo."

"He's a totally cool martial artist cyborg," said Pence.

"And a total hunk," said an adoringly smiling Yvette.

"Don't bloody start with that again, young lady!" snapped Jefferson, "no way are you dating another bloody operative! Not while you're living under my bloody roof, you're not!"

"I'll be 18 in a few months, dad!" snapped Yvette, "I can date anyone I want!"

"Is this really a good time?" Young Xehanort asked in a slightly uncomfortable yet humored tone.

"Shut your bloody gib, you tosspot!" snapped Jefferson, "I'm having a bloody conversation with my daughter!"

"That does it!" snapped Regina, "this has gone far enough! Everyone! GET THEM!" she then threw several fireballs at Jefferson and Yvette, only for Yvette to block the fireballs with her staff, but then dodged a knife throw from Dio Brando.

At the same time, Hayner and Sephiroth resumed their duel, while Gaston and Lady Tremaine fired their dark attacks at Pence and Olette, which they blocked with their physical and magical shields.

"DYNAMO PUNCH!" shouted Dynamo as he rushed at Gaston, hitting the brute villain in the face with an electric-charged fist. Gaston was knocked several feet into the air, crashing to the ground and bouncing several times.

Lady Tremaine fired her torment beam at Dynamo, yet he shrugged it off as if it were nothing. "What in Hell's name are you?!" exclaimed the former wicked stepmother of Cinderella.

"I am both man and machine!" said Dynamo as he smiled confidently while rearing back for another punch, "I am POWER EXTREME!" He then socked Lady Tremaine in the face, knocking her several feet into the air and crashing to the ground.

"YOU! How dare you hit a woman like a common street brawler!" exclaimed Lady Tremaine, only to dodge a Blizzard attack from Olette.

"You're no lady, lady!" shouted Olette as she shot another Blizzard spell, only to duck a barrage of rockets and lasers from the Killbots.

"Bloody tin cans!" shouted Jefferson as he vanished his riffle and summoned a large machinegun, "eat bloody led!" he then fired back at the Killbots, riddling them with bullet holes until one by one, they exploded.

"What?! How the hell did you do that!?" exclaimed Insano.

"Magic bullets," said Jefferson as he spat out a wad of tobacco, "you bloody wanker!"

"Oh, that's just dandy," said Insano, "you may have magic bullets, but you're no match for my demonic science, you cancer-stick sucking buffoon! Eat finger beams!" he then aimed his hands and fired multi-colored energy beams at Jefferson, only for Yvette to get in front of Jefferson and rapidly spun her staff in her hands, deflecting the deadly beams.

"No one insults my dad but me," said Yvette as she glared wrathfully at Insano.

"Thanks, love," said Jefferson, "now let's take out the bloody trash!" he then fired more magic bullets at the villains.

"Columbina! Do something!" snapped Regina as she cast her own shield spell against the magic bullets, yet each round peppering her shield weakened the barrier.

"Oh, _now_ you want my assistance," said Columbina in a mocking tone, "oh, I'd be more than happy to lend a hand, oh high and mighty Evil Queen! Unfortunately I'm a little busy at the moment!" she then ducked a punch from Dynamo, followed by a furious onslaught of punches and kicks.

"Hold still, you twitchy sorceress!" shouted Dynamo.

"Hey, if anyone's interested," said Lady Darklight, "the house is gone," she then indicated the empty space where the Old Mansion was just moments ago. There, beneath the erased foundations of the house, lay the Keyhole of Twilight Town.

"There it is!" said Columbina as she teleported away from Dynamo, appearing next to Lady Darklight as they looked down at the Keyhole, where they were soon joined by Regina and the other villains, their battle with the heroes forgotten for the moment, "sealed many years ago and forgotten by the people of this world. How ironic that their folly has lead to their doom."

"The Keyhole's been here all along?" Pence asked, "what do they want with it?"

"I don't know," said Hayner, "but whatever it is, we've gotta stop them!"

"Bloody right!" said Jefferson as he loaded a fresh magazine of magic bullets into his machinegun.

"For the Realms of Light!" shouted Dynamo as he, Yvette, Jefferson, Hayner, Pence and Olette rushed at the villains.

"Oh for…I got this," said an annoyed Lady Darklight as she summoned her dark Keyblade, startling Hayner and the others enough that they faltered in their charge.

Lady Darklight swung her dark Keyblade at Hayner, hitting him with a wave of dark magic that sapped his energy, collapsing him to the ground, while she swung her Keyblade at Jefferson. One by one she hit the heroes with energy-sapping curses and leaving them helpless on the ground.

"So much for pathos," said Columbina as she looked at Hayner and the others with distain, then at Lady Darklight, "now, my dear, do your worst!"

"You'd know if I was doing my worst," said Lady Darklight as she walked back to the edge of the hole, aiming her Keyblade at the Keyhole. A beam of dark magic shot at the Keyhole, causing it to pulse with dark energy.

"We've gotta stop them!" shouted Hayner as he and the others tried to get up yet lacked the strength, "We gotta do something!"

"I'm open to suggestions!" said Dynamo as he and the others heard the Keyhole beginning to crack.

"Just a little more…" said Lady Darklight as more and more cracks appeared in the Keyhole, "…and…done." She then lowered her Keyblade, ending the beam of dark magic.

"That's all?" a slightly confused Olette asked.

"That's all, for now," said Lady Darklight as she smiled insidiously, "but just wait, the best is yet to come."

It was then that the ground began to violently shake.

"Earthquake!" shouted Dynamo as he, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Jefferson and Yvette managed to get back up, but were nearly knocked down by the tremors.

"You'll wish it was an earthquake!" said Young Xehanort as he and the other villains were surrounded by individual shield spells.

With a deafening thunderclap, the sundered Keyhole exploded, followed by a towering geyser of darkness from which emerged a seemingly endless rain of Heartless.

"Oh crap!" shouted Pence as the downpour of Heartless hurtled from the heavens.

But then with a blinding flash of light, Hayner and the other heroes found themselves on the transporter pad of the Voyaging Light.

"Thank goodness!" said Vivi as he walked from the transported controls to Hayner and the others, "I almost didn't make it."

"You got the ship fixed, Vivi," said Hayner, "thanks a millions."

"Wait, if you're here in the transporter room," said Olette, "who's flying the ship?"

"Who do you think?" said an unpleasantly familiar voice over the intercom.

"You didn't," said Pence to Vivi, "tell me you didn't!"

"He did, ya' know?" said another familiar voice.

"Our turn," said a third familiar voice.

"What the hell, Vivi!" shouted Hayner as he rushed towards the bridge, followed by Pence, Vivi and the others. Once on the bridge, they found Seifer sitting in the captain's chair, Fuu at the helm and Rai at the weapon's station.

"Thought I'd give your favorite chair a spin," said Seifer to Hayner, "it's a little lumpy and needs a cup holder."

"Get out of my chair, you jerk!" snapped Hayner.

"I will if you back out the next Struggle tournament," said Seifer.

"This time is Seifer's time, ya' know!?" exclaimed Rai.

"Domination," said Fuu smugly.

"We don't have time for this crap!" said Yvette, "what's happening down there!?"

"Move!" shouted Olette, shoving Fuu from the helm, sitting down and activating the forward view screen.

"Bloody Hell!" exclaimed Jefferson as he and the others saw a view of Twilight Town and a spreading flood of darkness engulfing the planet.

"This isn't happening," said Pence as he sat down, shaking his head in denial, "this is not happening!"

"It is happening, man," said Dynamo, "and there's nothing we can do about it."

"The hell we can't!" said Hayner, "Vivi! Get back to the transporter and beam aboard as many people as you can!"

"Roger!" shouted Vivi as he rushed to the transporter room.

"What good will that do?" Seifer asked.

"It'll save innocent lives," said Yvette, "and that's all that matters."

"But the world's being stained black, ya' know?" said Rai, "it's like it's drowning in black, ya' know?"

"Going down for the last time," said Fuu as she stared at the screen, lost in despair at the destruction of her home world.

"That's the most I've ever heard you say at once, ya' know?" Rai asked.

"I'm entitled," said Fuu.

"But how? How did this happen?" Olette asked, "what did that horrible girl with the black Keyblade do to that Keyhole?"

"She broke it, that's what," said Dynamo.

"And unleashed a bloody geyser of bloody Heartless," said Jefferson.

"Thanks for stating the obvious," said Seifer irately.

"Get out of my chair!" said Hayner.

"When I feel like it," said Seifer.

"Why you…!" exclaimed Hayner, only to be interrupted when Vivi came back onto the bridge.

"I got a bakers dozen," said Vivi, "they're safe in the cargo area, but I couldn't locate anymore."

"You mean…everyone else on Twilight Town…is…?" Olette tried to ask as tears began welling in her eyes.

"A lot didn't make it," said Vivi, "but others did."

"Look!" said Pence as he pointed at the screen. Several Gummy Ships were rising from the Twilight Town spaceport, the last one barely lifting off as the spaceport was flooded with Heartless.

"No one else?" Hayner asked.

"It doesn't look so, lad," said Jefferson gravely as the view screen now focused on the Twilight Town clock tower, which was rapidly being covered by Heartless. Within seconds the entire surface of Twilight Town was drowned in darkness.

"And that's bloody that," said Jefferson.

"Okay, so…what now?" Pence asked.

"What do you mean 'what now?'" Olette asked.

"Well, we can't just sit here in space forever, right?" Pence asked, "we've gotta have somewhere to go."

"Those other Gummy Ships, they're going somewhere," said Seifer.

"They're on a trajectory for Traverse Town," said Yvette as she looked at a navigation display.

"Sounds good to me, ya' know?" said Rai, "they say Traverse Town's a safe place for people who lost their worlds, ya' know?"

"Sanctuary," said Fuu.

"We're not going to Traverse Town," said Dynamo, "we're going to Radiant Garden."

"That's where Commander Quistis Trepe is," said Yvette, "we've got to let her know what happened."

"Couldn't we just radio her and then go to Traverse Town?" Pence asked.

"Long range communication's still on the fritz," said Vivi, "I had to stop working on that and a few other systems in order to get the transporter, shields, weapons and life support fully operational. On, we've got hyper drive, just don't push the engines."

"Radiant Garden isn't that far," said Hayner, "we'll get there and warn Quistis and the others."

"No, we're not!" said Seifer, "we're going to that Traverse place where it's safe!"

"Do you really think that after what we just saw that anyplace is safe?" Dynamo asked, "no world is safe so long as that dark Keyblade Wielder is on the lose!"

"And we couldn't stop her," said Yvette, "and we won't if we don't hook up with Quistis and the rest of SeeD, and the other local heroes."

"Some heroes you losers turned out to be," said Seifer irately.

"Speak for yourself!" said Olette as she glared at Seifer, "where the hell were you and the terrible twins when we were fighting for the sake of our world?! Well? What were you doing?"

"Loafing about at the space port," said Vivi, "they only got on when the sensors picked up trouble at the Keyhole."

"Thanks for that, Vivi," said Seifer, "but you're still out of the gang! Now, I'm the captain of this ship and I say we're going to Traverse Town!"

At that Hayner drew his sword, "you're not the captain and you never will be, Seifer! This is my Gummy Ship and I decide where she goes! When you have your own Gummy Ship, you can be her captain and decide where she goes, but not until then! Now sit down and shut up!"

"Oh really?" Seifer asked as he drew own a sword of his own, "you gonna back up those words?"

"He don't need to, you bloody coward!" said Jefferson.

"Stay out of this, fat man!" snapped Seifer.

At that Yvette bashed Seifer on the head with her staff, "don't you call my dad fat, you jerk! He's big boned!"

"You'll pay for that, you little bitch!" snapped Seifer as he felt his head, only to have the barrel of a magic shot-shooting shotgun pressed against his face just below his right eye.

"Say that again," said Jefferson in a calm yet menacing tone as he placed his finger around the trigger of his shotgun, "say that again about my daughter. I dare you! I bloody dare you!" Yet all Seifer could say were meaningless mumbles.

"Is that bloody all?" Jefferson asked, "then SIT DOWN AND BLOODY STAY OUT OF THE WAY!" at which Seifer quickly backed away and sat along the wall of the bridge.

"Whoa, Seifer got his ass handed to him, ya' know?" said Rai to Fuu.

"Total ownage," said Fuu.

"No one insults my daughter but me," said Jefferson as he leaned his shotgun against his shoulder.

"Nice family you two make," said Pence.

"You should see them during the holidays," said Dynamo.

"Okay, then," said Hayner as he sat in the captain's chair, "I think we're all in agreement that Radiant Garden is the best place to go to," he then looked at Seifer, "unless someone has another suggestion."

At that Jefferson tapped his finger against the trigger of his shotgun.

"Nope," said a nervously sweating Seifer.

"Then let's get going," said Hayner, "Vivi, set a course for Radiant Garden and get us there fast!"

"Aye aye, skipper!" said Vivi as he sat at the helm and activated the ship's hyper drive. Within seconds The Voyaging Light was in hyperspace, leaving the drowned world of Twilight Town far behind.

"You think we'll ever see home again?" Olette asked as she pulled up a reverse view on another computer screen, yet all it saw was more of hyperspace.

"I don't know," said Pence, "but one thing's for sure. Many more people are gonna lose their homes if that dark Keyblade Wielder isn't stopped."

"Then that's what we're gonna do," said Hayner, "once we're with Quistis and the others, we strike back at the enemy, then we take back our world, or die trying."

"Well spoken, lad," said Jefferson, "bloody well spoken."


	2. Chapter 1: A Real Game Changer

**Kingdom Hearts: Path of the Keyblade Master**

 **Volume 10: The Haunting in Aincrad**

 **By AndrewK9000**

 **Chapter 1: A _Real_ Game Changer**

"It's official, Asuna," said Kirigaya Kazuto into his phone as he stood in his bedroom, "aside from your appointment this afternoon, I've got the whole weekend free."

"A three-day weekend," said Yuuki Asuna on the other end of the call, "if we were still in regular high school, this would never happen."

"I guess being in the Survivor School has its benefits," said Kirigaya Kazuto, "so, we've got a few hours before we have to meet with that college recruiter from America."

"You really don't have to come with me to the meeting, Kaztuo," said Yuuki Asuna, "I've had five already since August and I've got four more lined up before Christmas."

"Well, that's what you get for having such fantastic grades," said Kazuto, "besides, I want to know what college you pick, so I can go there when I graduate."

"And that's what worries me," said Asuna, "what if we end up in different schools after graduation? And even that, I'm a year older than you. I'll be in college for a whole year while you're finishing up high school. A whole year without us being together, I don't want to even think about it, Kirito-kun. Oh, sorry, I keep slipping."

"It's alright, Asuna," said Kazuto, "you can call me Kirito as much as you want once we're logged on. So, same place as before?"

"Floor 18," said Asuna, "and this time we'll find the Boss Dungeon." She then giggled slightly, "I'm actually surprised that the Boss dungeons have been in the same place for the other floors so far."

"This isn't the same Aincrad," said Kazuto, "this version of the game has a protocol that allows it to evolve over time, to keep things fresh and challenging for all players."

"It certainly has been fun," said Asuna, "I just hope our house by the lake is still there on Floor 22."

"I hope so too," said Kazuto, "well, the sooner we beat the Floor Boss, we'll be one Floor closer to 22. See you in a bit."

"See you soon," said Asuna. With that the call ended.

Kaztuo then put his phone down, stretched for a bit before booting up his computer, preparing to activate his trusty Nerve Gear. He checked for any last minute messages from his friends and family before laying on his bead and donning the helmet that had once been the bars of his cyber prison but now was like an old friend.

Once everything was ready, Kazuto took a bracing breath before saying, "Link Start!"

One multi-colored flash of light and login sequence again, Kaztuo was once again Kirito.

* * *

… **New Aincrad…Floor 18...October 17** **th** **, 2025 A.D…**

Seeing his reflection in a nearby pool of water, Kirito briefly smiled at his Spriggin form, then looked around at the awe inspired countryside he had arrived in, taking in the view of hills, valleys and a partly cloudy yet bright sky.

"You may have been a murderer and a lunatic, Kayaba Akihiko," said Kirito, "but there's no denying your artistic genius."

Just then Kirito saw something in the sky, something that turned out to be an Undine that, when landed next to him, was his in-game wife and real world girlfriend, Asuna.

"Hi," said Asuna cheerfully as she embraced her in-game husband.

"Hi," said Kirito as he hugged Asuna back and they kissed briefly, "so, what do you want to do today? Monster hunting? Run a quest or go after the Boss dungeon?"

"Would you mind if we just stayed here for a moment?" Kirito asked.

"I was hoping you'd say that," remarked Asuna with a smile.

At that the two of them laid down on the grass and watched the clouds go by.

"That one kinda looks like a horse," said Kirito as he pointed at the clouds.

"And that one looks like a dolphin," said Asuna.

"Where?" Kirito asked, "that one? It doesn't look like a dolphin."

"Tilt your head," said Asuna.

"Oh yeah," said Kirito as he looked at the cloud at a slightly different angle.

Just then Yui, Kirito and Asuna's in-game daughter/navigation fairy/A.I. psychiatrist, appeared above them, also looking at the clouds, "they don't look like anything but clouds to me, mama, papa. They're not even real clouds, just data."

"Yui-chan, for someone who has the knowledge and experience of dozens of psychiatrists and psychologists," said Asuna, "you've got a lot to learn about being human. Sometime's it's nice to just lay back and watch the clouds go by."

"Mmm," said Yui thoughtfully as she looked up at the sky. With a flash she assumed her human form and landed easily on the ground. Asuna and Kirito made room for their in-game daughter and the three of them laid down and looked up at the clouds as a family.

"What about that one?" Kirito asked as he pointed up, "I'd say that looks like a bus."

"Yeah, but what kind of bus?" Asuna asked, "details, Kirito-kun."

"Well," said Kirito, "it's not a school bus, but I don't think it's a public bus either."

"It's just data programmed to form an atmospheric effect," said Yui. She sighed, "I guess I really don't know what it is to be human."

"Oh, don't say that, Yui-chan," said Kirito, "your mother and I are human and we don't know what we're doing half the time."

"That's because you're teenagers," said Yui, "you're still growing and learning as you grow. This is the time when you learn from your peers, your elders and from your mistakes."

"Spoken like a real shrink," said Asuna, "oh, Yui-chan, I wish you could come with us to the real world. It must be so boring for you here in New Aincrad without when we're not logged on."

"I keep busy," said Yui, "I look in on other players, help those who need counseling and..." at that Yui paused, sat up and looked to her right, her expression that of one lost in thought.

"Yui-chan?" Asuna asked as she and Kirito sat up, "what's wrong?"

"I don't know," said Yui, "I…something's coming…something big."

"What's coming?" Kirito asked.

"I don't know," said Yui, "but…it's going to happen on the first Floor, the Town of Beginnings."

"All of a sudden I'm having d jé vu," said Asuna in a worried tone.

"Me too," said Kirito.

"It's probably nothing," said Yui as she gave her in-game parents a reassuring smile, "a random glitch in my programming, nothing to worry about."

Just then Kirito received an indication of an incoming message. He opened his Main Menu and accessed the message feature, "it's from Lisbeth," said Kirito, "she wants us to meet with her back at the Town of Beginnings."

"Well, if that's not an excuse to go back down to Floor 1, I don't know what is," said Asuna, "and we can check out whatever Yui-chan sensed while we're there."

"It's nothing, really," said Yui, "don't worry about it, Mama, Papa, I'm alright, honest."

"Better safe than sorry, Yui-chan," said Asuna, "besides, I'm curious."

"Me too," said Kirito, "if you can sense something at the Town of Beginnings, all the way up on Floor 18, then it's got to be big."

"Okay, let's go," said Yui as she flashed back to her fairy form, "let's go together." She then flew onto Kirito's shoulder, while Asuna took Kirito's left hand as he pulled out a teleportation crystal with his right.

"Teleport! Town of Beginnings!" said Kirito. With a flash of light, he, Asuna and Yui had relocated to the very start of the game.

* * *

… **New Aincrad…Floor 1...Town of Beginnings...**

"Look at all the new players!" said Asuna as she, Kirito and Yui saw thousands upon thousands of newly arrived gamers experiencing the wonders of Kayaba Akihiko artistic vision for the first time.

And not just players specific to the new version of Sword Art Online. Not only were there players using the avatars designed for Alfheim Online, but also avatars for various VRMMORPG's of different genera's.

"All thanks to the World Seed package," said Kirito as he, Asuna and Yui looked around at the diverse array of players.

"Hey! Kirito! Asuna!" shouted a familiar voice. There across the main square stood Lisbeth, blacksmith extraordinaire, "haven't seen you here in a few days!"

"Lisbeth!" shouted Asuna as she, Kirito and Yui hurried across the square and met with their friend, "we've been busy both here and the real world. So, what's up?"

"I'll bet it's a quest for a rare metal and need our help getting it," said Kirito, "or maybe you've found a new design for a sword and want one of us to test it."

"Nope," said the pink-haired blacksmith as she smiled cheekily, "it's something better. Come and see! You're gonna love it!" with that she lead her friends through the town, occasionally saying hello to familiar faces and costumers as they reached a smaller yet still crowded square. In the middle of the area was a raised stone platform that was being looked over by players with masonry, carpentry and other crafting skills.

"This area wasn't part of the original Town of Beginnings," said Asuna.

"It's part of the evolving software," said an eagerly smiling Lisbeth, "and it's perfect for the memorial."

"What memorial?" Kirito asked.

"For those who never woke up," said Lisbeth, "obviously," she pointed at the stone platform, "that's where the actual monument will go. We haven't decided on exactly what it'll be, but there'll definitely be a large plaque dedicated to the 3,853 players who died in the original SAO. While in another square on the other side of town, there'll be a monument for the 6,147 who did wake up," she looked at Kirito and Asuna, "you'll be at the top of that list."

"What? Oh, no, that's not necessary," said a slightly nervous Asuna in a modest tone.

"Why not, Mama?" Yui asked, "you and Papa saved everyone."

"Not everyone," said Kirito, remembering those he knew who died during the two years he and thousands of other players were trapped in cyberspace.

"Well, you're on the monument and that's that," said Lisbeth confidently, "we hope to have both monuments ready by November 6th, it's just a question of picking a design and going with it."

"Well, whatever it turns out to be, I'm sure it'll be great," said Kirito, "especially if you build it, Lisbeth."

"Oh, I'm not the actual architect," said Lisbeth modestly, "I'm just the head of the memorial committee, though I guess I could do it, I do have a few ideas."

"It's coming!" said Yui in an urgent tone, "it's coming!" with that she took off and flew towards another part of the city.

"Yui-chan!" exclaimed Asuna as her wings appeared on her back, "get back here right now!" with that she took off and flew after Yui.

"Asuna!" shouted Kirito as he too materialized his wings, took off and flew after his in-game wife and daughter.

"Hmm…kids," said Lisbeth in an offhand manner.

* * *

It took a while for Kirito and Asuna to catch up with Yui, whom by now had landed halfway across town on a market street near a large decorative fountain.

"It should be around here," said Yui as she looked around, "it's gonna happen somewhere around here."

"Yui-chan! Don't you ever run off like that!" said an irate Asuna, "you scared me half to death!"

"It's alright, Asuna," said Kirito, "no one got hurt."

"Don't you take her side, Kirito!" snapped Asuna as she glared at her in-game husband, "Yui-chan shouldn't have flown off like that! Suppose something had happened? What if she ran into a flying monster and gotten hurt? Or worse! And I sincerely doubt either of us can bring her back again."

"I…I never thought about it like that," said Kirito. He then looked at his in-game daughter sternly, "don't you ever fly off like that again, Yui-chan! You nearly put your mother in an early grave! Yui-chan! Are you listening to me?"

"There!" shouted Yui as she pointed towards the fountain, "it's going to happen there!"

"What's going to happen?" Asuna asked

"I don't know," said Yui in a somewhat frightened but exhilarated tone, "but whatever it is, it's going to happen! Now!"

Just then there was a blinding flash of light by the fountain that startled everyone within visual range. When the light cleared, Kritio and his family heard someone shouting in surprise, which triggered the gathering of a large crowd of every player around the fountain and surrounding streets.

"If I ever doubt Yui-chan's senses again, Kirito," said Asuna, "you have my permission to slap me."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Kirito. With that he, Asuna and Yui hurried over to the rapidly expanding mob, hoping to see whatever it was that had cause the crowd to gather in the first place.

"I can't see!" said Asuna as she stood on her toes to get a better look, but there were too many people in front of her, there were even over a dozen players hovering on their wings above the rest of the crowd.

"Stand back, for Christ's sake!" shouted a man's voice deep within the crowd, "give the poor thing some air, for the love of God!"

"Is she…" asked a girl's voice as the crowd began to disperse.

"Just unconscious," said a boy's voice.

"Mama! Papa! Let's go!" said Yui as the crowd thinned enough for her to fly between individual players.

"Not again!" said Asuna as she and Kirito hurried after their in-game daughter, "Yui-chan!"

Rapidly making their way through the crowd, sometimes pushing and shoving and stepping on more than a few toes and earning more than a few irate remarks, Asuna and Kirito reached the center where they found Yui kneeling next to an unconscious girl. She was about 16 with long red hair and wearing a slightly water stained and ragged outfit that clearly didn't belong to an SAO avatar, or to any other VRMMORPG that Kirito was familiar with.

Also around the girl were the three people Kirito and Asuna heard shouting. The girl and boy who shouted were clearly ALO players. The girl's avatar was of a Pooka, one of the nine faerie races. Pookas specialized in using music-based magic to attack and confuse enemies, while powering up allies. The girl was about Asuna's age with long green hair with blue and yellow highlights. She a silk-like blouse with slightly elongated sleeves beneath a sparkling jacket with a skirt and stocking and lace up boots. Slung across her back was a reinforced guitar that could be swing like a mace.

The boy's avatar was that of an Imp. In ALO, Imps were most at home in the dark, having superior night vision and stealth skills. The boy was about Kirito's age, tall with short, blue and orange hair. He wore a black and gray shirt, pants, cloak, boots and fingerless gloves, while multiple knives adorned his belt and a double bandolier across his shoulders.

The older player was clearly from a more magic-oriented VRMMORPG. He was tall with graying brown hair and a long beard, wearing blue and green robes and hat and carried a long oak staff topped with a clear crystal, giving him the appearance of a wizard.

"What happened?" Asuna asked as she and Kirito approached Yui, the unconscious girl and the three players, "Yui-chan? Who is this girl?"

"I don't know," said Yui as she looked at the unconscious girl with worried eyes, "but she's important."

"She doesn't have a life bar," said the Imp with the knives.

"Or any indication that she's a player at all," said the wizard.

"Could she be a NPC?" the Pooka with the guitar, "you know, like the start of a quest or something."

"I don't know," said Kirito.

"She's coming around!" said the wizard.

It was then that the girl opened her eyes, blue eyes that expressed a deep sadness and longing.

"Hi, there," said Asuna as she sat next to the girl, smiling warmly, "are you alight?"

"I…I think so," said the girl, "I feel like I'm all here," she felt herself from head to toe, "no, nothing missing, nothingbroken." She then sat up.

"Hey, take it easy," said the Pooka with the guitar, "I don't know what you've been through, but it must have been something."

"To say the least," said Kirito. "I'm Kirito, this is my wife, Asuna, and my daughter, Yui."

"Hi!" said Yui eagerly, while Asuna waved 'hello.'

"I'm Trillian," said the Pooka with the guitar.

"Albion," said the Imp with the claymore.

"Call me Xenophon," said the wizard.

"Nice to meet you," said the girl with red hair, "I'm…" she then frowned, "that's weird, I…I can't remember my name."

"Amnesia?" Trillian asked, "did you hurt your head?"

"I don't think so," said the girl as she felt her head, "I just…everything's so…"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Asuna asked.

"I…I was with my friends," said the girl, "we were…underwater…a city underwater. We escaped just before it collapsed and then…." she suddenly gasped in pain and clutched her head.

"What's wrong?" Asuna asked urgently as she and Yui reached out to touch the girl's shoulders, "are you…?"

"I'm alright," said the girl as she relaxed, "for a second my head felt like it was going to explode."

"Do you remember anything else?" Trillian asked.

"I don't think so," said the girl, "maybe…I…I think my name is Kairi."

"Well, Kairi," said a smiling Asuna as she held out her hand, "nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," said Kairi as she shook Asuna's hand, "so, where exactly am I?"

"You're in the Town of Beginnings," said Albion, "the starting point for New Aincrad."

"What world is this?" Kairi asked as she stood up and looked around, "am I back in The Realms of Light?"

"Realms of Light?" Xenophon asked, "never heard of that game."

"Game?" Kairi asked, "what game?"

"Don't you know?" Albion asked, "this is New Aincrad, the revitalized version of Sword Art Online, a Virtual Reality MMORPG."

"This is a computer game?" Kairi asked as she looked around.

"Something tells me that you're no player," said Kirito, "and I'm starting to doubt that you're a faulty A.I."

At that Yui gasped in surprise and shock, "she's neither! She's…but it's impossible! It just can't be!"

"What's impossible?" Asuna asked, "Yui-chan, what's wrong with Kairi?"

"She's real," said Yui, "she's flesh and blood."

"Well, I hope I'm flesh and blood," said Kairi, "I don't feel like a ghost."

"I mean you're truly here, inside cyberspace," said Yui, "you're not playing through a Full Dive system. Your body is actually here in New Aincrad!"

"Impossible!" exclaimed a nearby player.

"I just said it was impossible," said Yui.

"Well, I emphatically agree," said the other player, "there's no way she can actually be here, the technology doesn't exist!"

* * *

… **Somewhere in the Real World…**

"The subject has materialized in New Aincrad," said a man wearing a white, business suit-like lab coat as he and several others wearing identical outfits stood in a laboratory in an undisclosed location. Several computer terminals and servers adorned the lab, while one side the room was taken up by an enormous view screen. Currently the screen showed an overhead map of The Town of Beginnings. A blinking blue dot had been highlighted on the map.

"Phase One complete," said the scientist, whose nametag read 'Dr. Remington.' "though not without complications."

"Her body has survived the transfer without damage," said a second scientist, this one named 'Dr. Weatherby,' "but according to the latest data, she's suffering from temporary memory loss."

"A not unexpected side effect of the process," said a third scientist, this one named 'Dr. Winchester,' "though it will make the rest of the operation more difficult."

"Should we abort?" Dr. Weatherby asked, "should we retrieve her and try again?"

"No," said Dr. Remington, "we were lucky that she survived with her physical attributes intact and only temporary amnesia. A second transfer could cause irreversible damage."

"We can't risk retrieving her without more data," said Dr. Winchester, "besides, she's already in, we might as well proceed with Phase Two."

"Not yet," said Dr. Remington, "our eccentric colleague isn't back from his errand yet. He'd want to be here for the rest of the operation."

"And we still have issues with the other test subjects," said Dr. Weatherby as he indicated the other side of the lab. Laying on six cots, connected to life support systems and wearing a Nerve Gear, was Chrissie, Travis, Rachael, Joshua, Liza and Calvin. The Nerve Gears were connected to more servers, while around the six unconscious survivors of Rapture were full-body scanning devices.

Above each of them was a smaller view screen that showed avatars of the six survivors of Rapture, each exact in every detail. The avatars were shown separated from each other, wandering through dimly lit corridors of a dilapidated building. Chrissie, Rachael and Joshua were anxiously searching for a way out of their predicaments, while Calvin was screaming for help, Liza was curled in a ball and rocking back and forth on the floor. Travis, on the other hand, was calmly sitting down, his face an expression of intense thoughtfulness, as if he was meditating while waiting for something.

"Their augmented bodies and brains are proving quite problematic for the operation," said Dr. Remington, "they won't be easy to control."

"Since when was control that big an issue in the operation?" asked Dr. Weatherby, "we've given Kairi plenty of freedom."

"For now," said Dr. Winchester, "but it's only a matter of time before she's drawn to the plight of her friends. She'll comply with the program, whether she wants to or not."

"I'm still concerned about these six," said Dr. Remington as he looked at Chrissie and the others, "specifically that chemical that's altered their DNA. No one like them has ever experienced a Full Dive. There's just too many unknown variables."

"We'll never know those variables without experimentation," said Dr. Winchester, "and the experiment will truly begin once Kairi regains enough of her memories to try to save her friends. And try she shall, only to experience more suffering than she ever has before."

"And we get to pick how she suffers," said Dr. Weatherby, "she was clear about Kairi's fate, but left the details up to us. So, gentlemen, who has any ideas on how to make Kairi suffer until her soul shatters?"

"I have a few," said Dr. Remington, "have either of you seen the Saw movies?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell us about it," said Dr. Winchester.

 **The End of Chapter 1.**

 _Next chapter finds our two favorite gamers joining forces with other players in order to figure out how Kairi got into the game, while back in The Realms of Light, things go from bad to worse. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	3. Chapter 2: The Uncertainty Principal

_Last time found Kairi arriving into the world of Sword Art Online, specifically the VRMMORPG world of Alfheim Online. Stricken with amnesia, she's befriended Kirito and Asuna. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 2: The Uncertainty Principal**

"Something tells me that you're no player," said Kirito, "and I'm starting to doubt that you're a faulty A.I."

At that Yui gasped in surprise and shock, "she's neither! She's…but it's impossible! It just can't be!"

"What's impossible?" Asuna asked, "Yui-chan, what's wrong with Kairi?"

"She's real," said Yui, "she's flesh and blood."

"Well, I hope I'm flesh and blood," said Kairi, "I don't feel like a ghost."

"I mean you're truly here, inside cyberspace," said Yui, "you're not just playing through a Full Dive system. Your body is actually here in New Aincrad!"

"Impossible!" exclaimed a nearby player.

"I just said it was impossible," said Yui.

"Well, I emphatically agree," said the other player, "there's no way she can actually be here, the technology doesn't exist!" The player stepped out of the crowd to reveal herself. She was about 23 with long black hair tied in a bun and secured with long pins. She wore a red and black dress and jacket that would fit right in with mid 1880's fashion with a matching red and black hat, while over her shoulder was a matching red and black purse. Her greenish blue eyes were behind horn-rimmed glasses and she carried an elaborately crafted umbrella over her shoulder.

"The Uncertainty Principal prevents a human being from truly entering cyberspace," said the girl in the red and black outfit.

"What's the uncertain principal?" another girl asked. This one was about 19 with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes. She wore a green blouse and skirt with stockings and running shoes, while belted around her waist were several wooden stakes and leather pouches. Around her neck was a silver crucifix and belted across her back was a sword.

"That's 'Uncertainty Principal," said a third player that stepped forward, this one belonging to a man in his late 20's with short brown hair, gray eyes and wearing Roman-style armor over a brown shirt and pants with boots. Sheathed at his waist was a Roman _gladius_ , while in one hand he carried a _pila_ , a Roman throwing spear, while his other hand held a large, rectangular shield called a _scutum_.

"You're familiar with the Uncertainty Principal?" the girl in the red and black dress asked.

"Anyone who knows basic physics knows the Uncertainty Principal," said the man in roman armor.

"Well, would you mind explaining it to those who didn't take Physics 101?" the blonde girl asked.

"It basically means that the more you observe an object, the harder it is to determine its speed and location," said Asuna.

"In a nutshell, yes," said the girl in the red dress, "it especially applies to molecules and atoms. If you observe and record an atom's momentum, you'll find it more difficult to observe its position in space, and vice versa. It is this Uncertainty Principal that makes technology such as the Transporter from Star Trek impossible."

"What's Star Trek?" Albion asked.

"What!?" exclaimed Xenophon, "you don't know what Star Trek is? At least tell me that you know what Star Wars is."

"Uh…no," said Albion, while Trillian shook her head.

"How can you not know what Star Trek and Star Wars are?" Xenophon asked, "Don't you kids watch TV and movies anymore?"

"Of course we do," said Trillian, "I've just never heard of Star Trek or Star Wars."

"Me neither," said Albion.

"Kids these days," said a slightly exasperated Xenophon, "they don't know what they're missing. When I was a kid, everyone knew about Star Trek and Star Wars."

"We were talking about how Kairi's being here in the flesh is an impossibility," said the girl in the red dress, "oh, sorry. My name is Beatrice Lancaster, and this is my first time visiting Alfheim Online."

"You've from one of those steampunk games, right?" Kirito asked.

 _"'Victorian Noir,'"_ said Beatrice Lancaster, "a game that focuses on investigation and puzzle solving. I'm a private investigator, specializing in bizarre murders and thefts."

"I was never into noir," said the man in roman armor, _"'Grand Warfare Online,'_ where one can experience ancient and medieval battles in real-time on massive scales, now there's a game. I am Felix Claudius Lucianus, Legate of the 121st Legion of Neo Rome, and this too is my first visit to ALO."

"Well, I've been visiting ALO ever since it was possible to crossover between games," said the blonde girl, "call me Mercedes, Vampire Slayer, from _'Sunnydale Online.'_ "

"Oh, that's the one based on the works of Joss Whedon!" said Asuna.

"Uh-huh," said Mercedes.

"That's a platforming game that utilizes hand to hand combat against vampires and other things that go bump in the night," said Xenophon, "where as my game, _'Forgotten Realms Online,'_ draws its inspiration from the world created by Ed Greenwood and R. A. Salvator."

"In other words, Dungeons & Dragons," said Trillian.

"That's basically turn-based strategy," said Albion.

"I'm most comfortable in games where you have the freedom to think before you make a move," said Xenophon, "D&D, Warhammer, Pokémon, "but I wanted to expand my horizons."

"That still doesn't explain how Kairi's being here in the flesh violates the Uncertainty Principal," said Kirito.

"I'm no scientist, but I know enough to say that it does," said Felix Claudius Lucianus.

"It's both simple and complicated," said Beatrice, "you see, the average human body is composed over one-hundred trillion cells, where as a single human cell is composed of an estimated one-hundred trillion atoms."

"So?" Kirito asked.

"So," said a slightly impatient Beatrice, "in order for Kairi to be here in the flesh, someone would have had to create a machine capable of converting solid matter into data. Said machine would have to be capable of identifying and scanning all those hundred-trillion atoms in each hundred-trillion cells instantaneously and convert all those atoms into data, upload that data from the computer servers on their end and into the servers that make up Alfheim Online."

"What makes it all impossible is that the technology to digitize even one atom of solid matter doesn't exist," said Yui, "let alone an entire human being."

"Well, she's here," said Kirito, "you said she was flesh and blood, Yui-chan, so it must be possible to turn a human into data."

"I know she's real, Papa!" said Yui, "but _how_ she's here, that's what's so illogical!"

"Now wait a second!" said Kairi irately, "where I'm from, you _can_ digitize human beings! And I use transporters all the time!"

"Oh, really?" a suspicious Beatrice, "and just what planet are you from?"

"I…I'm…" said Kairi as she struggled to remember, only to clutch at her head and cry out in pain.

"Hey, take it easy!" said Asuna as she and Yui helped Kairi sit down again, "just relax," she then looked at Kirito, "I think we should get her inside somewhere, Kirito-kun."

"I think we should contact a Game Master, Asuna," said Kirito, "an administrator, someone who knows what to do, because for one, I don't."

"Does anyone know what to do in a situation like this?" Xenophon asked, "Kairi may very well be the first human to ever be digitized and uploaded onto a computer system."

"We're in way over our heads," said Mercedes. She then blinked in surprised, "wait a second," she then looked at Kirito and Asuna, "what'd you say your names were?"

"They're Kirito and Asuna," said Albion, "wait," he then looked at Kirito and Asuna, "you…are you _the_ Kirito and Asuna from the original Sword Art Online?"

"Black Swordsman Kirito and Asuna the Flash?" Trillion asked.

"Kirito the Beater?" Felix asked, "and Asuna, vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

"Uh…yeah," said Kirito in a slightly uncomfortable and nervous tone.

"OMG!" exclaimed Mercedes, whom then proceeded to let out a, ear-piercing fan girl squeal.

"I can't believe it, the legends themselves," said Felix.

"We're that famous?" Asuna asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Beatrice asked, "you're two of the most famous gamers alive!"

"Asuna, the fastest sword mistress of SAO," said Xenophon, "and not to mention the most beautiful player in the game."

"Oh, you really think so?" a slightly embarrass but flattered Asuna asked.

"I'll say you are," said Albion, "boys want to date you and girls want to be you!"

"And not just for looks," said Trillian, "I'd give my right eye to be as fast with a blade as you are!"

"While Kirito, among being another top swordsman in the game," said Xenophon, "you're The One."

"One what?" Kairi asked as she stood up again.

"Papa's the one who beat Sword Art Online," said Yui, "he saved six-thousand people."

"Six-thousand, one-hundred and forty-seven souls to be exact," said Felix, "not to mention exposed a vile conspiracy involving mind-control experiments."

"You also made it possible for new VRMMORPG's to be created by just about anyone," said Beatrice, "the only limit is man's imagination."

"Captain Kirk was wrong," said Xenophon, "the final frontier isn't outer space, it's Cyberspace."

"Huh?" a confused Trillian and Albion asked.

"God, I miss the 20th century," sighed Xenophon, at which Beatrice and Felix looked at him with suspicious eyes.

"Never mind," said Xenophon, "what does matter is that we have the sheer luck to be on a quest with Kirito and Asuna."

"Uh…I don't think this is really a quest," said Asuna, "not one that's part of the game anyway."

"Oh, but it is a quest," said Xenophon.

"And a mystery," said Beatrice as she cleaned her glasses with a silk handkerchief from her purse, "how is it that Kairi found herself in this situation?"

"And what happened to her memory?" Felix asked.

"Exactly!" said Beatrice, "I'm all but positive that if we can help Kairi recover her memories, she can tell us how she came to be digitized."

"I sincerely hope so," said Kairi, "'cause I feel that however I got here, it was against my will."

"Then whoever it was must be an unethical bastard," said Felix.

"And possibly with a Heisenberg Compensator," said Xenophon.

"A what?" Albion asked.

"A Heisenberg Compensator," said Xenophon, "it's how, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, they explain how the transporter works."

"It basically compensates for the Uncertainty Principal," said Mercedes, "of course, we're never told how the doohickey works, only that it does."

"Oh, a fellow Trekkie, huh?" Xenophon.

"My mom and dad are the Trekkies in the family," said Mercedes, "I just happened to be in the same room when they watched TNG on Blu Ray."

"Why not watch it on Netflix or Amazon Prime?" asked Albion.

"Then you miss out on all the special features," said Beatrice.

"Good point," said Albion.

"I think we should put aside how Kairi got here aside for the moment," said Asuna, "and focus on the why. Someone digitized her against her will and I want to know why."

"And where they are," said Mercedes, "so I can give them a fist to the face!" she then mimed throwing a punch.

"Maybe it has something to do with Hell House," said Albion.

"Now why would it have anything to do with Hell House?" Trillian asked.

"It may not, or it may have everything to do with it," said Albion.

"What's Hell House?" Kirito asked.

"You don't know?" Mercedes asked in a scandalized tone.

"Apparently not," said Asuna.

"But you're Kirito and Asuna!" said Mercedes, "the greatest players of SAO!"

"But this isn't SAO," said Xenophon, "it's ALO, and this isn't the same Aincrad as before."

"We've been playing back and forth between mainland Alfheim and the frontlines of New Aincrad since May," said Asuna.

"Then you don't know," said Beatrice, "And I only arrived here just today."

"It's being talked about in dozens of forums and chat rooms across the web," said Felix, "of a supposed cursed dungeon that appeared in New Aincrad on October 1st."

"We were down on Alfheim that day," said Kirito, "but a new dungeon in New Aincrad isn't really out of the ordinary."

"The old Aincrad generated new dungeons," said Asuna, "even then the game evolved to keep things fresh and challenging."

"This different," said Felix, "as I said, this dungeon is supposedly cursed."

"They say it appeared during a minor glitch that occurred on October 1st," said Beatrice, "the admins had to shut down part of Floor 6 for half an hour, and when the area was rebooted, this really creepy house appeared where there was none before."

"Naturally, with a new dungeon, there were players who wanted to explore," said Xenophon, "and that's where things get weird."

"They get downright spooky, that's what," said Mercedes, "they say that if you die in that dungeon, your character's data gets corrupted."

"You lose items, your stats are all messed up, even your avatar is warped," said Felix.

"And that's only the first few minutes after you're resurrected," said Albion, "your control responses start to lag and even fail to respond at all sometimes, which makes navigating the virtual environment and battling enemies so hard, you're almost ready to rage quit."

"And then it really gets bad," said Beatrice, "eventually you learn that your entire ALO account has been corrupted, forcing you to delete and start over with a new character. And if that's not enough, you find that your AmuSphere's hard drive has been corrupted, forcing you to buy a new one, unless you bought an extended warranty entitling you to reduced fees on repair and debugging, and even then you're probably better off with a new AmuSphere."

"All in all," said Xenophon, "the dungeon has become so notorious, it's earned the nickname 'Hell House.'"

"Wait, if there's a dungeon that has such negative effects," said Kirito, "why hasn't the GM's and admins done anything about it?"

"Oh, they've been trying," said Mercedes, "they're investigating it right now, but so far they've got nothing."

"For now they've posted that the best thing everyone should do is just stay away from Hell House," said Beatrice, "but some of the more adventurous, or should I say foolhardy, players, they've tried to beat the dungeon. Most manage to retreat with no harm done, while those who died in the dungeon were forced to give up all the progress they've made."

"It can't be that horrible a dungeon, can it?" Asuna asked.

"Those who managed to escape Hell House tell of strange and powerful monsters unlike anything ever seen in SAO or ALO," said Xenophon, "and even stranger sightings of NPC's whom look completely out of place with the game."

"That's why I thought there might be a connection between Kairi and Hell House," said Albion as he activated his menu, "the other day a friend of mine was in a party that snuck into Hell House. None of them died, they all had teleport crystals. But before they fled, one of them managed to take a few screenshots."

He then activated a window and showed Kirito and the others several images of the interior of a dilapidated house in which several players were battling vampires, werewolves and ghosts.

"These shots are of the first monster encounters," said Albion, "at first Hell House seemed just a normal, Halloween-themed dungeon with the usual assortment of things that go bump in the night, especially in a haunted house."

"I remember when haunted houses were that, in houses," said Xenophon, "then they made haunted mazes, haunted corn mazes and other ghost and monster-themed attractions, all of them done with practical effects and makeup. Now everything's done with virtual reality." He sighed, "I especially remember the haunted attractions that came with the State Fairs. Every Labor Day Weekend, my family would go to the State Fair and my sister and I would go into the haunted house. Only one time we had the guts to make it all the way through, only once."

"I'm glad you remember your childhood so well," said Felix in a slightly annoyed tone, "but that still doesn't explain how Kairi is connected to Hell House."

"Two completely different mysteries that may or may not be related," said Beatrice in a thoughtful manner, "If we were all in Victorian Noir, this case would be right up my alley."

"Just hang on," said Albion as he searched through the screenshots, "the best is yet to come."

"Wait! Go back!" said Kairi, "go back a few pics!"

"Huh? Oh," said Albion as he flipped back a few frames, "this shot?"

"It's mostly blurry," said Asuna as she and the others looked at the picture.

"My friend tried to get a picture of the strange monsters but they didn't show up well," said Albion, "so he deleted them, but I guess he missed this one. Anyway," he then flipped forward, "this is the one I wanted to show you. He got a shot of one of the NPC's, you know, the ones that look like they don't belong on ALO."

He then showed the image of a girl of about seventeen with short, dark brown hair and coal black eyes. "Now, I'm not that big on fashion, but I'd say her outfit is at least fifty years out of date."

"More like it started out in the 1950's and took slightly different tangent," said Xenophon as he and the others looked at the picture.

"She looks so afraid," said Asuna, "like she's lost and has no idea how she got here or who did it to her."

"Like Kairi," said Kirito.

"Either this is the mother of all coincidences," said Albion, "or there's something incredibly rotten in New Aincrad."

"I'll say it's rotten," said Kairi in a shaken tone as she looked at the picture, "I know her!"

"You do!?" exclaimed Asuna, Kirito and Yui at the same time.

"Her name is Chrissie Chesterton," said Kairi, "and she's my friend." She then looked at Albion, her eyes blazing with righteous fury, "and you're gonna take me to Hell House! Now!"

* * *

… **Castle Oblivion…**

"Magic Mirror!" said Regina as she stood in front of a full-length mirror with an ornate frame, "show me Sora and his companions!"

The former Evil Queen had secluded herself in one of the castle's many rooms and had been there since the conclave of villainy had returned from the darkness-drowned world of Twilight Town.

A mask-like face appeared in the mirror, "my queen," said the face in an ethereal whisper, "I have been searching for the Keyblade Wielders as you have commanded. They are not in The Realms of Light."

"Then search elsewhere, you idiot!" snapped Regina, "search The Realms of Darkness, search other realms, search through hell and high water! I don't care, just find them!"

"Why are you so obsessed with finding Sora?" Sephiroth asked as he stood in the doorway of the room.

"Did it ever occur to you that I wanted to be alone?" an annoyed Regina asked without turning to face the one-winged angel.

"Solitude is the last that any of us need at this time," said Sephiroth as he walked into the room, "I fear that Columbina will be our undoing, her and that twisted princess of hers."

"Which is why I want to find Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders," said Regina, "Columbina and Darklight are too powerful for their own good, I won't feel comfortable taking them out without help."

"An alliance with the Keyblade Wielders?" a startled Sephiroth asked, "I never thought you had it in you."

"I only intend to find the brats and point them in the right direction," said Regina, "soften up Columbina and her pet enough for the rest of us to finish them off."

"Ah, now it makes sense," said Sephiroth.

"Yes," said Regina, she then frowned, "assuming this yard sale reject of a mirror can do what it's told!" she then smacked the side of the magic mirror, "find them, you stupid spirit!"

"I am doing the best I can, my queen," said the spirit of the mirror.

"Well, do better!" snapped Regina, "find them or else. Remember, I've endured worse than seven years bad luck!" with that she turned around and walked out of the room, with Sephiroth following her.

They reached the common room of the castle where the other villains had gathered, "Where's Columbina and the waif?" Regina asked.

"You missed the dart throwing," said Dio Brando, "L.D. picked The Land of Dragons as the next world to visit."

"And none of you went with her?" Sephiroth asked, "what if that world had a SeeD team to assist its local heroes."

"She wanted to go without help," said Gaston as he lifted some weights, while Lady Tremaine sat reading a book, "to test her powers."

"Of course, her minder, Columbina, refused to be left behind," said Lady Tremaine. She then turned a page in her book and laughed cruelly, "ah, what an amateur, the Marquis de Sade, a gifted amateur, but an amateur nonetheless."

"He wasn't the first to write about sex, you know," said Insano.

"But he wrote about human suffering combined with sexuality," said Lady Tremaine, "there's a difference."

Just then a shimmering gray doorway appeared, from The Lord of Illusions stuck his head and upper body through. He looked around nervously, "where's Darklight?" he asked anxiously.

"Out smashing another Keyhole," said Dio Brando.

"That's a relief," said The Lord of Illusions as he walked through the shimmering doorway, which rapidly doubled in size, "it'd be a shame if she were to spoil my surprise by whacking another of my doppelgangers."

"Are you the real Leslie or a doppelganger?" Regina asked.

"Truth be told," said The Lord of Illusions, "I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to. If you were to gather a dozen of us in one room and asked which one was the real one, not even the real one could tell. We've been around so long, we've forgotten which is the original."

"Just how old are you freaks?" Gaston asked.

"Old," said The Lord of Illusions in a matter of fact tone, "and don't ask me again. Now, as to my surprise."

"You found the remaining missing powers," said Young Xehanort.

"No, my doppelgangers are still looking," said the Lord of Illusions, "this is the next best thing."

Several Large Bodies emerged from the shimmering doorway, each carrying two wooden crates.

"Just put them down," said The Lord of Illusions as more and more Large Bodies emerged from the doorway, only to put their burdens down and march back the way they came.

"What is all of this?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"I believe I know," said an astonished Young Xehanort, "but…how?"

"How what?" Gaston asked as he walked up to one of the crates and effortlessly pulled the lid off, revealing several sophisticated pieces of machinery packed in straw.

"A new Interocitor!" said Insano, "but how did you get it?"

At that The Lord of Illusions smiled with mischievous eagerness, "let's just say it fell off the back of a truck."

"It must have been one beast of a truck," said an impressed Lady Tremaine as the train of Large Bodies marched in, deposited their crates and marched out.

"How many parts did you say are in this thing?" Gaston asked as he and Sephiroth opened more crates.

"2,486," said Young Xehanort as he opened a smaller crate and found the instruction manual. He then looked at The Lord of Illusions, "but why?"

"Why not?" Leslie asked in return, "now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to looking for those missing powers."

"You're not gonna help put the new Interocitor together?" Insano asked as he found the crate with the Intensifier Disk.

"And risk getting caught by Columbina and her murder-happy princess?" The Lord of Illusions asked, "forget it! I'm crazy enough to torment Tess and the other Keyblade Wielders, but to risk losing another Doppelganger to that degenerate Lady Darklight? No thank you!"

By now the last of the crates had been unloaded, the Large Bodies exited and the doorway returned to its normal size, "enjoy the new Interocitor. And when Columbina asks where you got it, tell her it's from a friend and let her stew on it, it'll drive her nuts." With that he walked into the shimmering doorway which vanished after him.

"What a strange person," said Lady Tremaine.

"Strange but generous," said Young Xehanort, "yet his generosity no doubt will come with a price."

"He's gonna come claiming a favor at some point," said Dio Brando.

"Who cares? We've got a new Interocitor!" said Insano, "now come on, people, this machine ain't gonna assemble itself!"

"You actually expect us to contribute with manual labor?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"You'd better believe it," said Insnao, "we shall put the new Inteocitor together!" he then held up his finger triumphantly, "WITH SCIENCE!" he then laughed like the mad scientist he was.

"If you love science so much," said Gaston, "why don't you marry it?"

"You know what, I think I will!" exclaimed Insano, "everyone, I'm getting married, to SCIENCE!" he then laughed again like the maniac he was.

"Weirdo," muttered Gaston.

* * *

… **Radiant Garden…**

"And that's what happened, Commander," said Yvette as she, Jefferson and Dynamo sat down with Quistis in one of the rooms of the castle. Also in the room was King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Leon, Hayner, Pence and Olette.

"Twilight Town's gone," said King Mickey in a defeated tone.

"That's two worlds destroyed by that monster, Columbina!" said Leon irately, "we can't let her get away with this!"

"But how?" Pence asked, "we gave everything we had to save our world and it wasn't enough."

"I don't know," said King Mickey, "but whatever we do, we've got to do it fast, before Columbina and this Lady Darklight strikes again."

Just then Yuffie burst into the room, "they took out The Land of Dragons!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed King Mickey, while Leon, Quistis and the others looked equally shocked.

"It's true," said a brused, slightly bleeding and heavily depressed Mulan as she limped into the room, "my world, it's gone."

"Goodness!" said Queen Minnie as she and Yuffie helped Mulan sit down, "what happened?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure," said a bruised Mushu as he perched on Mulan's shoulder, with his left forearm in a sling.

"They came out of nowhere," said Mulan in an empty tone, "that masked woman and the other woman, the one with the black Keyblade. They found the Keyhole and tried to destroy it. I fought the woman with the black Keyblade but she was too strong." She then held up her right arm, which was heavily bandaged from the elbow down, "the healers, they say the damage is too great and I may lose my hand."

"You'd be surprised what modern medicine can do," said Quistis, "but what happened next?"

"Shang wanted to go back to save the emperor," said Mulan, "but it was too late. The Keyhole was destroyed and this flood of Heartless came out. Before we knew it, they were everywhere, drowning the world in darkness. Shang, Mushu and I barely made it to a portal. The SeeD team assigned to the Land of Dragons, they stayed behind to keep the portal open."

"Team Theta-44," said Jefferson, "I knew them, they were good people."

"They were great people!" said Dynamo, "they were among the best!"

"And our best wasn't good enough, again," said Yvette.

"We're not bloody licked yet and don't you forget it, young lady!" said Jefferson.

"Oh, get with it, dad!" snapped Yvette, "that's three times SeeD tried to stop Columbina and Darklight and we failed!"

"Then we'll try again!" said Jefferson, "and again and again! That's what SeeD bloody does;we never give up until the bloody fight is over! Or would you rather go running back to your mother?"

"Don't you bring mom into this, you fat loser!" snapped Yvette.

"Stop it! Both of you!" shouted Quistis, "It's bad enough you were constantly at each other's throats during Yvette's training, but I won't have any of it here and now! One more argument, and I don't care who starts it, just one more argument and I'll have you both on laundry duty for the rest of the year! Is that understood!?"

"Yes, Commander Trepe," said both Yvette and Jefferson.

"Swell," said Quistis. She then looked at Mulan, "now, I know this is difficult, but did anyone else from your world escape?"

"I don't know," said Mulan in an anxious tone, "I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. The emperor! My friends in the army! By the ancestors! My family! I've got find them! I…!" at that she passed out in her chair.

"About time," said Mushu as he checked Mulan's pulse, then opened one eyelid to see if she really was unconscious, "those docs, they gave her something to calm down."

"She's out to lunch, alright," said Yuffie, "so, what now?"

"We get our heads and asses our of the mud and strike back! That's what!" exclaimed Dynamo, "we go all out on the offensive!"

"Against what?!" Hayner asked, "do you know where Columbina and Darklight are hiding? Does anyone know?"

"Wherever Xehanort hid Castle Oblivion," said Leon, "and we still have no leads on that."

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna do," said Quistis, "I'm gonna call SeeD H.Q. and demand reinforcements. I'll get every operative we've got if I have to, down to the rawest of recruits, whatever it takes to boost the defenses of The Realms of Light."

"You really think that's going to help?" Olette asked as a pair of servants carried the unconscious Mulan out on a stretcher.

"It's better than nothing," said Quistis, "but I'd feel much better of a few Keyblade Wielders were to stop mucking around and come home already."

"Sora, Riku, Kairi," said King Mickey as he looked out the window at the stars, just in time to see the light from The Land of Dragons go out, "where are you guys?"

 **The End of Chapter 2**

 _Next chapter finds Kairi and her new friends discovering the horrors of Hell House for themselves, only to find that this dungeon is far more than they asked for. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	4. Chapter 3: Into Hell House

_Last time found our online heroes meeting new friends and attempting to figure out just how Kairi arrived in ALO. After much thinking, it was theorized that Kairi's digitization might have something to do with an allegedly cursed dungeon known as Hell House._

 _Back in the real world, our heroes on Radiant Garden were horrified to learn of the fall of The Land of Dragons, while the villains at Castle Oblivion celebrated their new Interocitor, now they just have to put it together. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 3: Into Hell House**

"Either this is the mother of all coincidences," said Albion, "or there's something incredibly rotten in New Aincrad."

"I'll say it's rotten," said Kairi in a shaken tone as she looked at the picture, "I know her!"

"You do!?" exclaimed Asuna, Kirito and Yui at the same time.

"Her name is Chrissie Chesterton," said Kairi, "and she's my friend." She then looked at Albion, her eyes blazing with righteous fury, "and you're gonna take me to Hell House! Now!"

"We can't go there," said Trillion.

"Yes, we can!" insisted Kairi.

"No, we can't," said Trillion, "the Admins clearly said that all players are to avoid Hell House."

"But some players still go into the dungeon," said Beatrice.

"At the risk of losing their character files and Full Dive hardware!" said Albion, "you won't catch me going in that dungeon."

"Fine, you can stay, but I'm going!" said Kairi, "my friends are there!"

"How can you be sure that this is your friend?" Felix asked, "for all we know, it's just an NPC who bears an uncanny resemblance to your friend."

"I'm still going," said Kairi, "I have to. If I've been digitized against my will, there's a good chance that one or more of my friends have been too!" she indicated the screenshot of Chrissie, "I have to know if that's really my friend! I have to know if it's Chrissie!"

"And you won't be satisfied until you do know," said Xenophon, "so be it. If you're going into Hell House, I'll go as well."

"Are you nuts or something?" asked Felix, "we can't go there! It's forbidden! The Admins and GM's…"

"They didn't exactly say it was forbidden," said Trillion, "just something to be avoided."

"It's not like they'll punish us for trespassing," said Beatrice, "we just want a look around. The worst that happens is we lose a day's progress or so."

"We'll lose a lot more than a day's progress!" snapped Albion, "you wanna have your character erased and _all_ your progress and achievements lost forever? Or better yet, you wanna buy a new AmuSphere?"

"I have a theory that might just save our characters and the cost of a new AmuSphere," said Beatrice, "if we do go to Hell House and end up dying in the dungeon, don't hit continue when prompted. Try logging off, rebooting your computer and AmuSphere, that should take you back to where you first logged in today. You'll lose all progress made from then but everything else should be safe."

"And you're willing to gamble your own software and hardware on a theory?" Felix asked. He then smiled, "well, so am I. _Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat_ ; Fortune Favors the Bold."

"Are you serious?" Albion asked.

"I'm feeling lucky," said Felix, "after all, my online surname is Latin for lucky."

"If you're willing to gamble for Kairi's sake, so am I," said Mercedes, "besides, this is a haunted house dungeon. You'll need someone experienced in kicking things that go bump in the night in the ass."

"A wizard is always a welcome addition to any adventure," said Xenophon.

"What about you, Asuna?" Beatrice asked, "and you, Kirito? Are you willing to gamble?"

At that Asuna and Kirito looked at each other, as if they didn't need words to make up their minds. But then Yui made their decision for them, "of course we'll go," said Yui, "if it's really Kairi's friend and she's really in trouble, then we'll help."

"But time is a bit of an issue," said Kirito after checking the time on his main menu, "Asuna and I have to log off in a few hours."

"For what?" Mercedes asked, "What could possibly be more important than helping a friend."

"It's really not that big a deal," said Asuna in a slightly embarrassed yet cheerful tone, "seriously, I can reschedule."

"You can't reschedule a college recruitment meeting," said Kirito, "not if you don't want them to take you seriously."

"You're having a college sitdown?" Albion asked, "what school?"

"It's…it's…" said Kirito in a thoughtful yet confused manner, "you know, I can't remember how you say it. I do know it's one of those Ivy League schools in America."

"An Ivy League," said an impressed Beatrice, "let me guess, Harvard? Or perhaps Yale."

"Betcha it's Princeton or Brown," said Mercedes.

"It's Miskatonic University in Massachusetts," said Asuna.

"M.U.?" a surprised and delighted Mercedes asked, "shut up! I go to M.U.!"

"So do I!" said Trillion.

"Same here," said Albion as he looked at Tirllion with suspicious eyes, "wait a second…have we met on campus?"

"It's a distinct possibility," said Trillion, "but I'll bet you're at one of the other branches."

"You're probably right," said Albion

"Okay, I'm confused," said Kirito.

"It's not that difficult," said Xenophon, "Miskatonic University's main campus is in Arkham, Massachusetts, along the Miskatonic River, but their academic programs are so widespread, they have established campuses across the U.S. and in several countries. I myself attended at the Fredericksburg campus in Virginia."

"You went to M.U.?" Felix asked.

"Class of '09," said Xenophon, "I majored in mechanical engineering. You?"

"Class of '20," said Felix, "my major was ancient and medieval history."

"Class of '21," said Beatrice, "ancient literature and archeology."

"Well, I'll be kicked into next week," said an astonished Felix, "six individuals, upon whom only two know each other, and we all either attend or have graduated from the same college," he then looked at Asuna and Kirito, "and here we have two young adults ready to apply to the exact same university."

"Uh, I'm only meeting with the recruiter," said Asuna in a slightly nervous tone, "I'm nowhere near ready on deciding which college I want, and Kirito-kun's a year younger than I am."

"Really?" Mercedes asked, "you really are just kids."

"Oh for crying out loud!" snapped Kairi, "if you're all gonna stand around and talk about college, I'll find Hell House myself!"

"You can't go off by yourself!" said Kirito, "you'll never survive!"

"Oh really?" Kairi asked in an insulting tone as she glared at Kirito, "let me tell you something, mister! I've seen horrors and fought evils the likes of which would give you nightmares for the rest of this life and all of the next! What makes you think I can't handle a computer game?"

"This is no ordinary game, Kairi," said Asuna, "and you should feel lucky that you're in _New_ Aincrad and not the original."

"Why? What's the difference?" Kairi asked.

"Then you truly don't know," said Beatrice.

"How could she not know about the death game?" Felix asked, "how can she not know about the crimes committed by Kayaba Akihiko?"

"It's a long story," said Yui as she saw Kairi's confused look.

"If you're really set on going to Hell House, then we'll go with you," said Kirito.

"What's a missed college meeting compared to a friend in need?" Asuna asked.

"And a few new friends while you're at it," said Mercedes as she, Felix, Xenophon, Beatrice, Albion and Trillion, exchanged their real-world email addresses. After that the six of them, along with Kirito and Asuna, formed a party together.

"Okay, so we're all going to Hell House on the 6th Floor," said Trillion, "just one question; where on the 6th Floor is the dungeon?"

"About three kilometers up the road from Milliways," said Albion, "then you take a side trail through some woods until you come to a very large hill."

"Milliways?" Xenophon asked. He then laughed heartily.

"Did I miss a joke or something?" Beatrice asked as she and the others looked at Xenophon with confused eyes.

"Sorry," said Xenophon, "it's just, Milliways, from 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.'"

"The what now?" Kirito asked.

"Oh come on!" said an irate Xenophon, "am I the only one who's read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"

"Apparently you are," said Kairi, "at least in this group."

"God, I miss the twentieth century," sighed Xenophon. "Alright, let's go, and for goodness sake, Don't Panic."

"Why would we panic?" Kirito asked as he, Asuna, Trillion, Albion and Mercedes pulled out teleportation crystals.

"Never mind," said Xenophon as he readied his staff, "you guys teleport and I'll follow with a spell."

"I don't have a teleport crystal!" said Felix.

"Neither do I," said Beatrice, "remember, this is our first visit to New Aincrad."

"Just grab on and hold tight," said Trillion as she grasped Beatrice's hand, while Albion grabbed Felix's hand.

"What do I do?" Kairi asked.

"Just hold on and relax," said Asuna as she gently took Kairi's hand.

"But brace yourself," said Yui as she settled into Kirito's coat pocket, "the first time's a little intense."

"Teleport!" shouted Kirito, "Milliways!"

With a flash of blue light, the eight players, navigation pixy and Kairi, left The Town of Beginnings.

* * *

… **New Aincrad…Floor 6...Milliways…**

"So this is the famous Restaurant at the End of The Universe," said a sarcastic Beatrice as she and the others found themselves in front of a three-storey roadside tavern with a sign above the front door marked 'MILLIWAYS.' The tavern was situated in the middle of grass covered hills between two large patches of woods.

"Oh, so you have read the works of Douglas Adams," said Xenophon.

"I read a lot of fiction," said Beatrice, "there's nothing like curling up in your favorite spot with a good book, that and a VRMMORPG."

"Amen, sister!" said Mercedes, "so, which way to Hell House?"

"Three kilometers up the road, through the woods and up the hill," said a slightly annoyed Albion, "just like I said back in The Town of Beginnings!"

"Yeah, but which way up the road?" Mercedes asked, "the road goes both ways, you know."

"Uh…" said a confused Albion as he looked one way, then the other, "I…guess I don't know."

"Men, never admitting when they need to ask for directions," said Beatrice as she walked towards the tavern and went in.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Asuna asked as she saw Kairi look around the area with wonder in her eyes.

"It's all so real," said Kairi, "I mean, it feels real to me, but how real does it feel for you all?"

"Very real," said Kirito, "the Full Dive system directly interfaces the brain with the game. Instead of moving your arm in the real world, you move here," he raised his left arm in example, "while at the same time you see, hear, feel, taste and touch everything in the virtual environment."

"All thanks to the mad genius of Akihiko Kayaba," said Felix, "he may have been a murdering sociopath, but what he created was nothing less than a technological miracle."

"You sound like he was a monster with a heart of gold," said Kairi.

"It's a long story," said Beatrice as she exited the tavern, a look of annoyance in her eyes, "can you believe it? I had to pay some player bloke 400 _col_ just for some directions!"

"You had to pay someone?" Kairi asked.

"Hell House isn't the most popular destination," said Albion, "I'm not surprised such information is at a premium."

"You should have warned me," said Beatrice, "I'm just glad that the currency from Victorian Noir is exchangeable for money in ALO. Oh, there's an item store and repair shop in the tavern. Anyone wishes to stock up on items and fix anything, now's the time."

Our heroes and allies spent the next few minutes buying healing items and crystals, while repairing damaged weapons and equipment. They soon set out north.

Along the way Asuna and Kirito took turns telling Kairi the story how they and 9,998 other players were imprisoned against their will at the start of the original Sword Art Online, how they were forced into a game of life and death; where to die in the game or to have their Nerve Gear removed would result in true death in the real world.

"And Kayaba did it intentionally?" Kairi asked in a horrified and disgusted tone, "why? Why on Earth would he do such a terrible thing?"

"Who knows why," said Kirito, "when we met with him after the game was cleared, he told us that he forgotten his original motive. Regardless, it took us two years and nearly four-thousand lives to clear Floor 75. That's when I realized that Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, wasn't who he said he was."

"All that time," said Asuna, "the man whom we all thought would lead us to freedom, he was the one who imprisoned us the first place."

"One thing lead to another and Kayaba agreed to a fight to the finish," said Kirito, "if I won, the game would end and everyone left would be freed. If I lost, then the game would continue until floor 100 was cleared and Kayaba defeated there."

"I'm guessing you beat him," said Kairi.

"Well, more or less," said Kirito.

"Both mama and papa died," said Yui in a matter of fact tone.

"You did what now?" Kairi asked, "wait, you couldn't have died. You told me that the Nerve Gear was rigged to microwave your brain cells if you died in the game or if someone tried to take it off in the real world. If you died in the game, you should be dead for real."

"We should, but we're not," said Kirito, "even now we don't know how Asuna and I survived, how we overcame the rules of the system, but we did."

"Long story short," said Asuna, "everyone left logged off, while Kirito-kun and I were also alive. I was still stuck in cyberspace while Kirito-kun woke up, but that's another story."

"Good grief," said an exasperated Kairi, "two years trapped in a living nightmare, where the slightest mistake and you'd die. How is it that you two aren't crazy?"

"A lot of players did go crazy," said Yui, "I know; I was forced to watch them fall into hopeless despair."

"Yui-chan was originally an A.I. program to help players deal with any psychological stress," said Asuna, "but the game control system, Cardinal, blocked her out."

"Can you imagine how horrible it was to see so many people in pain and you couldn't do anything to help them?" Yui asked, "I nearly lost my mind too." She then smiled and looked up at Asuna and Kirito, "but then I met mama and papa and they saved me, in more ways than one."

"Another story for later," said Asuna.

Just then several goblin-like creatures materialized on the road a few paces in front of our heroes.

"About time we had an encounter!" said Albion eagerly as he drew a pair of knives, while Trillian unslung her reinforced guitar, "I could use some exercise."

"Mind if I help?" Xenophon asked as he readied his staff, "I may be used to turn-based combat, but I've got some pretty impressive spell up my sleeves."

"And such wide sleeves you have," said Mercedes as she cracked her knuckles.

"Have fun, that's what the game's here for," said Kirito as he and Asuna stood aside.

"It's show time!" shouted Trillian. She then strummed out several reverberating chords on her guitar that stunned several goblins. At the same time Albion rushed from the left and began fighting some of the un-stunned goblins, while Mercedes attacked from the right. Several paces back stood Xenophon as he held up his staff and chanted a spell.

"You're not going to help them?" Kairi asked anxiously as the three fighters and wizard fought the goblins.

"Four players are enough for this small band of enemies," said Felix, "but if they need help, I'm there."

"I'm not that much of a fighter," said Beatrice, "but if I have to," she then tapped the point of her parasol on the ground, earning a loud clanking sound, revealing that the umbrella was heavier and more solid than it looked, "I am more than capable of defending myself."

"So, for now, just enjoy the show," said Kirito.

"I will," said an impressed Kairi as she watched Albion got behind several goblins and stabbed them in the back, Trillian smash goblin heads in with her guitar, Mercedes punched and kicked, and Xenophon blasted with fireballs and magic missiles.

"Why are their weapons glowing?" Kairi asked as she pointed at Trillian and Albion.

"Those are Sword Skills," said Asuna, "they're much more powerful than straight-on weapon attacks. That reminds me, Kairi, you said that you faced plenty of enemies in your time. Do you remember any of it?"

"Some," said Kairi in a thoughtful manner, "my friends and I, we've been to many worlds and fought a lot of monsters and…and…and things, I can't remember what they're called, but they're plenty dangerous. If I see them again, I'll remember them, without a doubt."

At that point nearly all the goblins in the enemy band were defeated, destroyed in a burst of crystalline polygons. Only the leader of the band remained; a particularly large and nasty specimen of a goblin armed with a large, spiked club. It growled menacingly as it rushed at Trillian. She blocked its club with her reinforced guitar, causing the creature to flinch back.

"Switch!" shouted Trillian as she jumped back, allowing Albion to run in, jump up and throw two shuriken into the eyes of the goblin leader. The creature let out a bellow of rage as it exploded in a shower of crystal polygons.

"That's game!" said Albion triumphantly, while windows marked **CONGRATULATIONS** appeared in front of him, Trillian, Mercedes and Xenophon. The windows displayed earned experienced points, currency and items from the fight.

 _ **"VICTORY SCREECH!"**_ shouted Trillian as she slung her guitar across her back again. She then let out a bellowing, tongue-waggling ululation with both fists raised in the air triumphantly.

"Uh, you're not gonna do that every time we fight enemies, right?" Mercedes asked in an uncomfortable tone.

"Yeah, it's kinda my thing," said Trillian.

"Uh-huh, yeah, right," said Mercedes, "screw you guys, I'm going home." At that she brought up her main menu and selected the Logout option.

"Wait! Don't go!" said Asuna as she rushed over to Mercedes, "she won't do it again!"

"That's right, she won't," said Albion. He then glared at Trillian, "won't you?"

"Hey, I partook in that battle and won," said Trillian, "I can celebrate victory anyway I want."

"Yeah, just as long as it doesn't piss the hell out of everyone else," said Albion.

"It was kinda annoying," said Asuna.

"Seriously, please don't do that again," said Kirito.

"But it was kinda funny," said Yui as she flew over to Trillian, "can you teach me how to do it?"

"Do that and you're grounded, young lady!" said Asuna irately.

"Oh, please, mama?" pleaded Yui, "it's not that bad."

"Trust me, Yui-chan," said Kirito, "it is."

"Alright, I won't do it," said Trillian. She then muttered to himself, "that often that is."

"Wonderful," said Mercedes dryly as she closed her main menu, "now can we please get going again? I've got a full evening planned tonight and I'd like to wrap this quest up with plenty of time to spare."

"I agree, the sooner we finish this, the better for everyone," said Xenophon in a slightly offset tone, "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."

"Me too," said Beatrice, "let's get going."

"So, what kind of items do you win from beating monsters?" Kairi asked as they continued their trek up the road.

"The usual RPG items you'd win," said Xenophon, "meat and animal hides from monsters, raw materials for item crafting, the rare weapon with special attributes. But goblins are usually low-level monsters that aren't worth much more than XP and gold."

"Sometimes you do get lucky," said Kirito, "I remember when we defeated the first Floor boss of SAO and I won that Coat of Midnight," he then frowned, "I had to delete it and the rest of my SAO items when I started ALO. I really liked that coat."

"I liked it too," said Asuna, "black really is your color, Kirito, and it's still my lucky color."

"Speaking of colors, Asuna," said Beatrice, "I understand that to play in ALO you had to choose one of the nine faerie races, but why haven't you outfitted your avatar in white? I thought that was your color, or so I've been told."

"I did wear white in battle," said Asuna, "nearly two years as a Knight of the Blood Oath. Had I started ALO with Kirito-kun, I would have picked white again," she then closed her eyes and shuddered in revulsion at an unpleasant memory, "let's just say that it'll be a while before I wear white again while in cyberspace. Besides, it's after Labor Day."

"It's alright, Asuna," said Kirito as he placed a comforting arm around her shoulder, " _he's_ behind bars and can't hurt anyone ever again."

"I know, Kirito-kun," said Asuna as she leaned against him, "but I sometimes wake up at night with his touch on my skin and I have to remind myself that I was just a nightmare."

"Well, that nightmare is over," said Kirito, "and I'll be damned if Sug Nobyuki ever touches you again."

"Just hearing you say that makes me feel a whole lot better, Kirito-kun," said Asuna. With that the two of them kissed.

"Ain't love grand?" sighed Mercedes.

"Must be nice to have a special someone like that," said Beatrice.

"Especially if it's true love," said Kairi.

"How can you tell if it's true love?" Beatrice asked.

"This is more than just an online romance," said Kairi, "in the real world, they're soul mates. Someone once told me that you can easily spot true love if you know what to look for."

"Who told you that?" Asuna asked.

"I…I don't remember," sighed Kairi. By now they were in an area where scattered trees lined the road sight and Kairi leaned against one and irately beat one fist against the bark in frustration.

"Hey, take it easy!" said Asuna as she walked over to Kairi, whom was pounding her fist again and again against the tree, "you're going to break your hand at this rate."

"What difference does it make!?" snapped Kairi as she hit the tree harder, "it's just a game, it's not like it'll hurt…OUCH!" she then flinched away from the tree, clutching her right hand in her left, horrified at the bruising and splinters of bark embedded in her hand.

"She feels pain," said an astonished Beatrice, "fascinating! I mean that in a purely scientific manner, of course, it's not right at all! But still, fascinating!"

"I thought the Full Dive system negates pain reception!" said Albion.

"It does," said Kirito, "only GM's with high-level administration access can turn off the pain-blocking protocols."

"Believe me, my friends," said a wincing Kairi, "this is really hurting me!"

"Just relax," said Asuna, "you'll be fine in a second." She then closed her eyes, held out her hands and chanted a healing spell, the golden words of the spell materializing in front of her, while Kairi's hand glowed brightly. Within seconds the bruising and embedded bark splinters were gone.

"Thanks," said Kairi as she flexed her fingers. She then sat down with a look of sorrow on her face, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Asuna asked as she sat down next to Kairi, "are you still hurting somewhere?"

"Yeah, in here," sobbed Kairi as she placed her hand on her heart.

"Oh My God!" exclaimed Albion, "she's having a heart attack!"

Trillian then smacked him on the back of the head, earning a cry of surprise from him and her a warning message from the system against rough contact between players.

"She's having an emotional moment," said Xenophon, "which is understandable considering her situation."

"What do you know about my situation!?" cried Kairi as tears began to fall from her eyes, "I'm trapped inside a VRMMORPG with no idea how I got here or who did this to me! I barely remember who I am and can barely remember who my friends are!"

"Well, it could be worse," said Yui as she flew over and sat on Kairi's shoulder.

"How?" Kairi asked as she wiped her eyes, "how can it possibly be worse?"

"You could be all _alone_ in a VRMMORPG with no idea how you got here or who did it to you and can barely remember who you are or your friends," said Yui.

At that Kairi laughed, wiped her eyes again and stood up, "yeah, it can be worse."

"Feeling better?" Asuna asked.

"Much," said Kairi.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Mercedes, "that dungeon isn't gonna conquer itself!"

They resumed their progress up the road, until they came to a path that branched off into the wooded area. A few minutes walking through the trees found the party at a rapidly flowing river that had an aged and slightly rotten wooden bridge.

"This place is screaming monster ambush," said Beatrice as they looked at the river.

As if in answer, a crab the size of an elephant with four bone-crushing claws burst from the water, snapping its pincers at our heroes.

"Giant Enemy Crab!" exclaimed a laughing Xenophon.

"Sometimes I hate it when I'm right," said Beatrice.

"I got it!" said Kirito as he unsheathed his sword.

"Attack the weak point for Massive Damage!" laughed Xenophon.

"No, allow me!" said Felix as he advanced towards the crab monster. The creature lashed out with its claws but Felix blocked with his shield, then jabbed at it with his spear. The iron tip barely scratched the crab's shell, but then Felix stabbed it in one of its leg joints, disabling that leg.

He then blocked another claw strike and ran beneath the creature. He pushed up with his shield with enough force to flip the crab onto its back. Drawing his gladius, he stabbed the crab in its underbelly, shattering it into crystalline pixels.

"Nice kill," said an impressed Mercedes.

"One worthy of Tiberius Claudius Nero himself," said Felix as he examined the spoils of his battle, "Before he became a degenerate emperor, Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals. Say, Asuna, you're a fairly decent cook, right?"

"'Decent?'" Asuna asked irately, then adopted a slightly smug attitude. "I maxed out my cooking skills last week, and it only took me a few months this time. Took me almost two years in the original SAO."

"Well, I think I may have found something interesting to cook," said Felix as he brought up his items menu, summoning into his hand what appeared to be a large piece of meat in the shape of a normal-sized crab.

"What is that?" Kairi asked as everyone looked at the item.

"'Scavenged Crab Meat,'" said Felix, "what do you say, Asuna? It's yours if you wish."

"Hmmm," said Asuna in a thoughtful manner, "you know, I think we'll be having crab for dinner."

"Wait a second!" said Kirito as Felix transferred the crab meat to Asuna's inventory, "how come you want to cook crab when you wouldn't even touch that toad meat?"

"Because I like crab," said Asuna, "and I did touch that disgusting Scavenged Toad Meat." She then looked at Yui, "you saw me touch it, right?"

"You threw it all away!" snapped Kirito.

"Are they always like this?" Mercedes asked Yui.

"No, only when it comes to toads," teased Yui.

By now Kirito had grudgingly calmed down and the party had crossed the river. A few minutes later they found the forest thinning and found themselves in a rapidly darkening area.

"It's not that late in the day, right?" Felix asked as he checked the time on his menu.

"It's not the time," said Xenophon as he looked up, "it's the clouds."

True enough, the sky above was heavily overcast with dark gray clouds that rolled and boiled as if a storm was about to break. Every now and then lightning flashed and thunder boomed overhead.

It was then that our heroes noticed that they were at the bottom of a small but steep mountain, atop which stood a large mansion.

"That's Hell House?" Asuna asked as our heroes looked up, she then looked at Albion, "you said it was on a hill!"

"I was wrong," said Albion.

"How are we gonna get up there?" Beatrice asked, "it's too steep to climb without equipment, which we didn't bring, of course."

"And not all of us can fly up there," said Felix.

"Fly?" Kairi asked.

"Of course," said Asuna as she made her wings appear, as did Kirito, while Trillian and Albion summoned their wings as well, "everyone flies in ALO."

"Alfheim literally means 'Land of the Faeries,'" said Kirito.

"Well, not everyone in this game is a Faerie," said Felix.

"That's okay, we'll carry you," said Trillian.

"I think we both need to carry you," said Albion, "what with all that armor of yours."

"Uh-uh, no one's carrying me," said Mercedes, "I can get up there myself," she then jumped up at least thirty feet, easily catching hold of a small rocky outcropping, pulling herself up and jumping a further twenty feet up the mountain, "see you at the top, slowpokes!" she called down.

"How did she…?" Albion asked.

"She's a Slayer, they're strong," said Beatrice, "now, I'm not ashamed to ask for a little assistance, so…"

"I gotcha!" said Kirito as he grabbed Beatrice under her arms and easily carried her aloft, while Trillian and Albion carried Felix.

"Just hold on, Kairi," said Asuna as she grabbed Kairi, "and don't look down."

"This isn't the first time I've flown thanks to faerie magic," said Kairi as Asuna carried her aloft, "I wish I can remember exactly when I've flown with faerie magic, but…"

"It'll come back to you," said Asuna in a reassuring manner. She then looked down, "oh, we forgot about Xenophon."

"Just hang tight, Xenophon!" called Kirito, "we'll be back for you in a bit!"

"No need!" shouted Xenophon, "why else were polymorph spells made than not for this kind of situation?" He then chanted a spell and with a flash of magic, transformed into a red and brown feathered hawk that flew up and overtook Kirito, Asuna and the others.

"What kept you?" Xenophon asked in his human form atop the summit of the mountain after Kirito, Asuna, Kairi and the others caught up.

"You just happened to get here first," said Mercedes as she brought up the rear of the group, struggling over the edge of the summit.

"A wizard is never early or late," said Xenophon as he grinned, "he arrives exactly on time, all the time."

"Well, at least it's not Mordor," said Beatrice as she and the others looked at Hell House. Up close, the dungeon was everything a typical haunted house should be and more; peeling paint and decaying wood, broken windows, bats and crows roosting in the rafters, that, combined with the threatening storm about to break above, gave the whole area a sinister and skin-crawling atmosphere.

"And I thought the creepy old house down the lane was creepy," said Felix.

"You wanna back out?" Kirito asked.

"Heck no!" said Felix, "just…well…"

"Oh, it's just a haunted house dungeon," said Mercedes, "I'll bet there's nothing in there but ghosts, skeletons, zombies, the occasional mad scientist, a few vampires and werewolves. If we're lucky, we might even meet Frankenstein's Monster, or even Dr. Frankenstein himself."

"There's no Universal Horror monsters in there," said Yui as she looked at the dilapidated house in a thoughtful, "this is something else."

"What are you talking about, Yui-chan?" Asuna asked.

"This particular dungeon was supposed to be the first of several dungeons based on famous theme park attractions," said Yui.

"You know what, it does look like The Haunted Mansion from Disney World," said Xenophon. He then looked at Kirito, Asuna, Trillian, Albion, Felix, Mercedes and Beatrice, "and if any of you kids say that you've never even heard of Disney World, I'll be very disappointed."

"Are you kidding?" Mercedes asked, "My family goes to Disney World at least twice a year." At that she, Felix, Beatrice, Albion and Trillian all began talking about their favorite rides and attractions.

"I've never been to Disney World," said Kirito.

"My parents took me a few times when I was little," said Asuna.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Kairi, "though the word 'Disney' does ring a bell, sort of."

"Well, this is no longer a tribute dungeon," said Yui in a serious tone as she flew closer to the decaying mansion, "it's been corrupted, not by a virus, but…"

"But what?" Kirito asked.

"It's as if someone hacked into the system and overwritten the dungeon's programming," said Yui as she flew back over to Kirito.

"Someone hacked into ALO and messed with the code?" Beatrice asked, "I don't know if I should be impressed or outraged."

"I'm both," said Kirito, "all of this," he indicated the game environment, "came from Kayaba's original programming. No one was able to hack the original Sword Art Online from the outside, while Yui-chan barely survived changing the code from the inside that one time."

"Who would do such a thing?" Felix asked, "hack into a game that's open for all to enjoy?"

"Perhaps the same person or persons in possession of technology capable of digitizing solid, living matter," said Beatrice, "the same person or persons whom trapped Kairi in the game."

"Whoever's responsible," said Kirito, "the answers might just be inside that house."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kairi asked. She then looked around, as if expecting something specific to happen, then sighed with disappointment.

"You okay?" Mercedes asked.

"For a second I almost remembered something," said Kairi, "my friends, whenever we were about to start a new adventure or get into a big fight with our enemies, one of my friends would say something inspiriting and cool."

"Well, nothing else to do but go forward," said Asuna. They walked towards the front door, which had a gargoyle-like doorknocker, while large gargoyles flanked the doors. Kirito reached for the doorknob, but the doors opened by themselves with an ominous groaning of the hinges.

"That's not a good sound," said Beatrice cautiously.

"Typical opening trick of a haunted house," said Mercedes, "come on, those ghosts aren't gonna scare anyone alone!" she then walked in with a confident smile on her face, "last one in is a pile of troll turds!"

"No one calls me troll turds!" said Albion as he, Trillian and the others ran inside.

They found themselves in the entrance hall of the house. The room was dimly lit by candles that revealed dust-covered tables, vases, a suit of rusting armor and macabre paintings adorning the walls.

Just then our heroes and allies heard an ominous laughing that seemed to come from all around them.

 _"Welcome, brave mortal travelers,"_ said the voice, " _We're so pleased you decided to stop by. The masters of the house, all 999 resident spirits, wish you a pleasant stay, one that will be long and…_ _ **well resting**_ _."_ the voice then laughed again.

"This isn't how the ride starts out," whispered Xenophon, "I should know, I've been on it enough times."

 _"Alas, the masters of the house aren't in the best of moods today. You've come at a most unfortunate time. A most unwelcome guest has arrived before you, one that has brought nothing but trouble to this humble haunted house."_

"This must be the start of the dungeon's main quest," whispered Asuna.

"Ya' think?" Kairi whispered.

" _The masters have asked me to submit to you this request,"_ the voice continued, _"to rid this most esteemed mansion of the unwelcome guest. The dangers involved would be most unpleasant, while the rewards for success would be well worth your time and effort."_

At that a window appeared in front of the party.

 **DO YOU WISH TO START THE 'UNWELCOME GUEST' QUEST?**

 **WARNING: ONCE YOU BEGIN, ESCAPE THROUGH THE DUNGEON ENTRANCE WILL BE DISABLED. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINE?**

 **YES/NO**

"What does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"It means that once we start, the only way out is forward," said Kirito.

"Oh yeah, my friends told me that they couldn't run out the way they came in," said Albion.

"You could have warned us!" said Trillian irately.

"What about teleport crystals?" Asuna asked, "can we still use them?"

"It doesn't say anything about that," said Kirito, "on the other hand, this could be a no-crystal zone."

"Like when we faced The Skull Reaper," said Asuna, "and that room where the Moonlight Black Cats died."

"At least this time we won't die for real," said Kirito. He then looked at Xenophon and the others, "anyone wants to back out, now's the time."

"And miss out on the chance to kick some supernatural ass?" Mercedes asked, "I don't think so!" at that Felix, Beatrice and Xenophon nodded in agreement.

"Just checking that we're all on the same page," said Kirito. He then touched the **YES** option on the window, which flashed green and disappeared.

 _"I'm so glad you decided to stay and help,"_ said the voice, _"though you may come to regret it. From here on out, there's no going back!"_ the voice then laughed wickedly as the front doors slammed shut behind our heroes, while at the same time the doors at the far end of the foyer swung open.

"So nice of them to show us the way," said Beatrice, "shall we?"

With that the party proceeded into the room ahead. It was a dust and cobweb-strewn sitting room with a table and a dozen chairs in the middle, while on the table was a tea service. Three other doors were in the room, one on the left, one ahead and one to the right.

 _"Welcome to the Tea Room,"_ said the voice, _"unfortunately we're out of sugar and the cream has gone sour. But feel free to sit down and relax. You may be in here for a while."_

At that the door our heroes walked through slammed shut.

 _"But don't fret, yet. There is a way out, you just have to find it. But once you do, you have to make a choice. One door will lead forward, as will the second, though opening it will have some rather unpleasant consequences. The third will have the most unpleasant consequences of all, so when you are ready, be very careful about your choice, it may be your last."_ The voice then laughed wickedly again.

"Now what?" Mercedes asked.

"Now I go to work," said Beatrice as she cleaned her glasses, then began examining the room, "this is obviously a puzzle to solve in order to progress further in the quest."

"Oh yeah," said Albion, "my friends told me that each room was a different puzzle."

"You're really dropping the ball today," said an annoyed Trillian.

"Is there a time limit on the puzzles?" Xenophon asked as he looked around warily for traps.

"Not on the first one," said Albion, "but this isn't the puzzle my friends ran into when they came here."

"The rooms and puzzles obviously change with each running of the quest," said Beatrice, "to keep the dungeon fresh. From what I can tell so far, the right door will lead us to the next room without anything bad happening. If we pick the other right door, we may have to either escape a death trap or fight our way through some enemies. The third will most likely kill us all."

"I don't want to die on the first room of the dungeon!" said Mercedes irately.

"Then hush and let me do what I do best," said Beatrice in an admonishing manner. She then walked around the table, "hmmm…interesting. The rest of the room is covered in dust, cobwebs and some signs of rot, while the table, chairs and flatware look better taken care of. I think we have to sit down for tea."

"I think I know where this is going," said Kirito as he and the others stood around the table, "we have to pick the right chairs to sit in to unlock the doors."

"How do we know which ones?" Asuna asked.

"Twelve chairs and nine players," said Trillian.

"Ahem," said Yui, "don't forget about me." She then took flight and hovered above the table, "normally I wouldn't do this, but we're in a bit of a rush." She examined the chairs closely, "the chairs are booby trapped. Nine will unlock the doors, while three will trigger the death trap."

"Now that is a logical conclusion worthy of Sherlock Holmes," said an impressed Beatrice.

"I guess so," said Yui as she smiled modestly.

"So how do we know which ones are booby trapped?" Trillian asked.

"Have you tried looking under the chairs?" Kairi asked. She knelt down and looked under the chairs, "There! Those three have bombs under them!"

"It can't be that easy," said Beatrice. She knelt down, looked, then stood up with an astonished expression on her face, "apparently it is that easy."

"I don't think we were meant to figure out the booby trapped chairs so soon," said Kirito as he and the others took places around the bomb-free chairs.

"This is just the easy part," said Beatrice as they all sat down, which produced the sound of three doors unlocking, "and remember, this is only the first room of the dungeon."

"We still have to get to the second room," said Kirito as everyone stood up and walked towards the three doors, "which one? Any suggestions, Yui-chan?"

"Sorry, papa," said Yui after she looked at the doors, "they all look alright to me."

"We'll just have to try one and hope we get lucky," said Felix as he walked to the middle door and opened it, only to reveal a brick wall behind the door.

An instant later several vampires materialized in the room, each creature had pale skin, red eyes and rows of razor-sharp, bloodstained teeth.

"Remind me to never play poker with you!" said Beatrice as our heroes took a few steps back from the encroaching vampires.

But then Mercedes jumped forward among the vampires and stabbed one in the heart with a wooden stake. The creature let out an inhuman wail of defeat as it shattered into crystal polygons.

"Oh…" said a disappointed Mercedes, "I like it better when they turn to dust." She then punched another vampire in the face with enough force to knock it down, kicked another and stabbed it in the heart, vanquishing it.

"Shouldn't we help her?" Kairi asked as our heroes watched Mercedes destroy the vampires.

"Nah, this is her thing," said Kirito.

Within seconds the last of the creatures had been destroyed, while at the same time the brick wall in the doorway vanished.

"Over already?" Mercedes asked as she looked around for more enemies, "I was just getting warmed up."

"You get any good items?" Trillian asked.

"A few old gems and jewels to sell," said Mercedes, "you can have them," she then activated her appearance menu and equipped an item. Her left hand now had a gold ring with a large ruby on her finger, "though this particular bit of bling all but had a neon sign blinking my name."

"I'd be careful with items from undead monsters," said Asuna in a cautious tone, "you never know if it has any negative effects until its appraised."

"That ring may be cursed," said Albion, "for all we know it could turn you into a toad or some other kind of vermin small enough for a vampire to grab and eat."

"I'll take my chances," said Mercedes, "so, onward?"

"And upward!" said Felix as they walked through the doorway and into a corridor.

"And next time _I_ pick which door to go through," said Trillian.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"They've gotten past the first room," said Dr. Remington.

"And in less than five minutes," said an impressed Dr. Weatherby, "a new record."

"It only means we get to unleash the real horror that much sooner," said Dr. Winchester.

"What about Kairi?" Dr. Weatherby asked, "she's inside the mansion but we're not ready for her yet. DiDe isn't ready yet."

"Then we'll have to make sure that no matter what happens," said Dr. Remington, "that Kairi remains driven to complete the dungeon, no matter the cost."

* * *

… **Hell House…**

"STOP!" shouted Yui, a look of fearful anticipation on her face.

"What is it, Yui-chan?" Asuna asked.

"Something's coming," said Yui, "something bad."

It was then that the walls, ceiling and floor of the corridor warped and distorted, expanding to the size of a basketball court.

"I told you that ring was cursed!" said Albion to Mercedes as he and the others readied their weapons.

"It's not cursed!" said Mercedes stubbornly.

Just then dozens of data-type Heartless, Magnum Loaders, Strafers and Devastators, appeared in the expanded corridor.

"Okay, maybe it is cursed," said Mercedes as she pulled the ring off her finger and threw it to the ground, where it shattered into crystal polygons.

"What the hell are these things?!" Felix asked as the creatures encircled our heroes and allies.

"Heartless!" exclaimed Kairi, "they're called Heartless!"

"How do you…?" asked Asuna.

"I just remembered," said Kairi, "they're the main enemies my friend and I fought."

"I don't suppose you know how to fight them?" Kirito asked.

"Yeah," said Kairi confidently as she raised her hand, "with this!" with a flash of light, she summoned her Keyblade.

"You're just full of surprises," said Asuna as the first of the data-type Heartless rushed forwards, only for Kairi to smash it with her Keyblade, destroying it.

"They're not that tough!" shouted Felix as he stabbed a Magnum Loader with his spear, then smashed it with his shield, destroying it.

"Easy for you to say!" remarked Trillian as she dodged a blast from a Strafer, only to be hit in the side by a Magnum Loader, knocking her down.

"Hang on, Trillian!" shouted Beatrice as she smacked a Strafer with her parasol, "Just as soon as I…" that's as far as she got before she was shot point blank by a Devastator with enough force to slam her against the wall.

"Beatrice!" shouted Asuna as she and the others Beatrice's lifebar rapidly deplete, going from green to yellow and red.

"Don't…hit Continue!" shouted Beatrice as the last pixels of her life bar vanished, "logout and reboot! Logout and…" with a flash of crystal polygons, Beatrice vanished.

"Is she…?" Kairi asked as more and more data-type Heartless spawned in the room.

"She'll be back, I hope!" said Kirito as he destroyed two Strafers, then a Magnum Loader.

Just then everyone heard Felix cry out as a Magnum Loader struck him from behind, followed by a blast from a Devastator that knocked his life bar down to a bare few red pixels, only for a Strafer to shoot him in the chest.

"'Quintilius Varus!'" shouted Felix as his hit points dropped to zero, "'Where Are My Eagles!?'" with that he vanished in a flash of crystal polygons.

"Now would be a good time to get the hell out of here!" shouted Albion as he blocked an attack from a Magnum Loader, then destroyed it with his knives.

"We can't run out the front door of the dungeon!" shouted Mercedes as she punched and kicked a Strafer, then kicked a Devestator with enough force to destroy it, "and now would be a really bad time to admit that I don't have any teleport crystals."

"What?!" exclaimed an outraged Trillian after she bashed a Strafer with her reinforced guitar, glaring at Mercedes, "you came all this way and don't have a teleport crystal! And what about healing crystals and other items?! Is your inventory full of just steaks and…" that's as far as she got before blasted by several Strafers and two Devastators. She fell to the floor as her life bar rapidly fell from green, to yellow and down to red, then it was gone as she vanished in a flash of crystal polygons.

"That does it! We're out of here!" shouted Albion as he pulled out a teleport crystal. He grabbed Mercedes by the arm, "Teleport! Milliways!" with a flash of light the two of them teleported out.

"Time to go, Kairi!" shouted Asuna as she and Kirito pulled out teleport crystals.

"We can't leave!" shouted Kairi as she destroyed another Magnum Loader, then threw her Keyblade at a Strafer, destroying it, "we've got to…" she then saw something at the far end of the room, something that turned out to be a familiar face, "Chrissie!"

"Kairi!" shouted Chrissie as two Magnum Loaders grabbed her and pulled her out of the room via a secret doorway.

"Chrissie! Hold on!" shouted Kairi, "I'm coming!" she then smashed two Magnum Loaders and tried to run towards the doorway, only to find her path blocked my more and more Heartless.

"We've got to go now, Kairi!" shouted Kirito.

"No! That's my friend!" shouted Kairi, "I can't leave her here! I've got to…arggh! Let go of me!" she exclaimed as Asuna grabbed her by the arms.

"Don't be a fool, Kairi!" shouted Asuna, "we can't stay here!"

"I can't leave Chrissie! I can't lose her and the others! Not again!" shouted Kairi, only for Yui to zap her with a stunning spell.

"I'm so sorry, Kairi," said Yui as Asuna and Kirito slung the unconscious Kairi over his shoulders, "but now's not a good time to go crazy!"

"Teleport!" shouted both Kirito and Asuna as Yui flew onto Asuna's shoulder, "Milliways!" with a flash of light, they vanished.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"Well, if that's not enough incentive to make Kairi want to come back," said Dr. Weatherby, "I don't know what is."

"She'll be back," said Dr. Winchester, "and she'll drag as many of those other players as she can."

"They'll only slow her down," said Dr. Winchester in a thoughtful manner as he looked at some data displayed on a screen, "those three who were killed, they weren't the most promising gamers. The data acquired is…disappointing at best," he then looked at some specific data, "then again, there's one among them with more potential than I gave credit."

Just then a technician whispered something into Dr. Remington's ear, something that didn't please him at all. "Gentlemen, I believe we have a problem. Two of the players with Kairi, they're Kirito and Asuna."

"You mean _the_ Kirito and Asuna?" Dr. Weatherby asked.

"As in Black Swordsman Kirito and Asuna the Flash?" asked Dr. Winchester.

"The same," said Dr. Remington, "which means that not only will our eccentric colleague be most pleased by this turn of events, it means that our efforts have become much more difficult."

"Kirito and Asuna," said Dr. Winchester, "the ones who defied the system and defeated Kayaba Akihiko."

"It matters not," said Dr. Weatherby, "they'll still fall when the time is right. And just imagine, gentlemen, the data we'll gather if they are defeated inside the mansion."

"If they are to be defeated, then we'll need DiDe," said Dr. Remington.

"DiDe isn't ready!" snapped Dr. Winchester.

"Then we'll make her ready," said Dr. Remington, "I won't risk the success of this operation, not with the likes of Kirito and Asuna running amuck. No, gentlemen, this is only a minor concern. A serious one, but minor no less."

"I wish I had your confidence," said Dr. Winchester.

 **The end of Chapter 3.**

 _Next chapter finds more trouble online, as well as back in the Realms of Light. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	5. Chapter 4: Interview With the Librarian

_Last time found Kairi and her gamer allies setting forth and arriving at the cursed dungeon of Hell House, only to find what was supposed to be a special in-game event for Halloween was far more sinister. Discerning that the dungeon was hacked, our heroes nonetheless pressed forward into Hell House, only to find cyber Heartless, controlled in the real world by Foundation X scientists. Unprepared by the onslaught of cyber Heartless, some of our heroes 'died' while Kairi and the others were forced to retreat, only for Kairi to see one of her friends from Rapture, driving her into desperate action and forcing Kirito, Asuna and Yui to drag her away from the cursed dungeon. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 4: Interview With the Librarian**

… **New Aincrad…Floor 6...Milliways…**

"Which one of you hit me?" asked an irate Kairi as she sat on a bench in front on the roadside tavern, her hand rubbing the back of her head. She glared at Kirito, Asuna, Xenophon, Albion and Mercedes, "seriously, who hit me?!"

"Uh…I did," said Yui sheepishly.

"You didn't leave her much choice, Kairi," said Kirito, "a few more seconds and we'd be overrun by those…those…what'd you call them?"

"Heartless," said Kairi as she rubbed her neck, "long story. And you should have just left me, I'd have been fine."

"Are you friggin kidding me?" asked Mercedes, "those things were worse than an entire coven of vampires high on steroid-infused blood."

"Do vampires get high?" Albion asked.

"With the right chemicals mixed with blood," said Mercedes. She then frowned with a thought, "then again, there was that episode of Buffy where Angel attacked that one guy who was on steroids and didn't like his blood, so what I just said really doesn't count."

"Who cares about vampires and drugs?!" snapped Kairi as she stood up, "that was my friend, Chrissie, back there! If she's here then maybe Travis, Rachael, Joshua, Liza and Calvin. For all I know the rest of my friends are here! Tess, Aiden, Riku, Malcolm, Sora!" she then sat down again, a look of distraught wanting on her face, "Sora…"

Yui then flew over and sat on Kairi's shoulder, reaching out with a comforting hand "He's your special someone, right?" asked Yui.

"He's my everything," said Kairi as tears began welling up in her eyes, "I…I lost him!"

"You remember?" Asuna asked as she knelt down next to Kairi.

"Not everything," said Kairi as she wiped her eyes, "but enough to know that I'd never forgive myself if I didn't do everything in my power to find Sora and the others."

"And some power you have," said an impressed Albion, "what's with that funky sword of yours? That…what was it?"

"Keyblade," said Kairi, "it's the best weapon against The Heartless, but anyone can destroy those creatures if they put their heart into it."

"Just what are Heartless?" Kirito asked.

And so Kairi explained as best she could about Heartless, about The Realms of Light, about Keyblades, about Sora and the others.

"And you've been bouncing around dimensions battling the forces of darkness," said an impressed Asuna.

"And I thought two years in Aincrad was hell," said Kirito.

At that a window appeared next to Albion prompting him of a received message, "it's from Trillian," he said as he read the message, "she, Felix and Beatrice are alright and are back at The Town of Beginnings."

"What about their character data?" Kirito asked.

"Fine, aside from losing all their progress from when they first logged on today," said Albion, "Beatrice's plan worked. They logged off, rebooted their computers and Amuspheres and logged back in without any corrupted data."

"That's good to know," said Xenophon, whom for the past few minutes had been leaning against a nearby tree, reading a grimoire, "when are they coming back?"

"Uh…they're not," said Albion as he read more of the message, "they've had enough."

"Enough for today?" Asuna asked.

"Enough of Hell House and of those Heartless things," said Albion, "they don't want to continue with the quest, that we all should just forget about it."

"They want us to back out of the quest?" Mercedes asked.

"Minotaur crap!" snapped Xenophon, "I've never given up on a quest and neither should they!"

"Even if it's _virtual_ suicide?" Albion asked, "they put up a very convincing argument, especially Beatrice. She says we shouldn't risk our data again."

"But she figured out how to save your data," said Asuna.

"And she's glad she did," said Albion, "but she doesn't know if it'll work twice," he then read the message again, "Or if it'll work without side effects…I don't know, it gets into a lot of techno babble. But she says it's for everyone's own good to call the quest a wash and move on to something else."

"Does she now?" Kairi asked in a calm voice as she stood up, yet her eyes betrayed burning fury, "well, you can tell Beatrice that I said thanks for all her help and wish her well, same for Trillian and Felix. And I thank you for your help too, Albion," she then looked at Mercedes and Xenophon, "and thank you too, but if you all feel that your continuing a game is more important than the lives of my friends, I'm okay with it."

"Kairi," said Albion in a shamed tone, "I…"

"No, it's fine," said Kairi, "if you're not willing to risk everything in order to stand against the darkness, then you shouldn't fight at all."

"I'm willing to fight!" said Xenophon irately, "a great wrong has been committed and I won't feel satisfied until there's justice."

"Ditto," said Mercedes, "game or no game, you're my friend Kairi, and a friend of yours in trouble is a friend of mine in trouble."

"You know we've got your back," said Kirito, while Asuna and Yui nodded in agreement.

"Wow, thanks, everyone," said a smiling Kairi as tears welled up in her eyes again, only these were joyful rather than of sorrow, "that really makes me feel better."

"I…I'm sorry!" said Albion as he bowed in apology, "I…I just can't!" He turned around as he pulled out a teleport crystal, "I'm sorry! Teleport: Town of Beginnings!" with that he vanished in a flash of light.

"Go on, you chicken!" shouted Mercedes irately, "we don't need you!"

"He's already gone," said Asuna.

"I know," said Mercedes in a deflated tone, "so, now we know where everyone stands. What's next?"

"What's next is we split up," said Xenophon in a matter of fact tone.

"Say what?" asked Mercedes, "I thought we just did spit up? Those who are going and those who are staying with Kairi."

"And we are staying with Kairi, to the end and beyond," said Xenophon, "but we need to know more about this hacked dungeon and those Heartless. I'm no expert on computers, but I know that you can't hack into a system as complex as ALO without leaving a trail, even if you do cover it up."

"What are you going to do?" Kirito asked.

"Log out for a while to make some phone calls and emails," said Xenophon, "I have a few friends from college and work who might just be able to find the people responsible for this whole mess, and if so, alert the proper authorities."

"You really think the police will be able to help?" Kairi asked, "I've seen worlds fall to the darkness. No, the cops or any government agency will be able to stop this."

"You might be surprised what this world has to offer," said Xenophon, "and besides, I'm getting hungry, real-world hungry."

"Me too," said Mercedes, "and I've also got a few friends at school who may be able to help."

"I think some of our friends can also help," said Asuna.

"Maybe," said Kirito.

"And don't you have an appointment this afternoon, Asuna?" Mercedes asked as she smiled with friendly mischief, "you'll be joining us at M.U. soon, so you'll want to make a good impression on the recruiter."

"It's just an interview!" said an exasperated Asuna, "and I've got a few more coming up before the year's out. I don't even know if I want to go to college!"

"You won't know if you don't examine your options," said Xenophon, "let's see," he checked the time on his menu, "it's about 1:30 PM, let's meet back here at 5:30. That should give us all a chance to recover, restore and take care of any and all errands."

"Good idea," said Kirito, "good luck."

"Same to you!" said Mercedes as she gave Kirito, Asuna and Kairi the thumbs up before they logged off and vanished.

"What nice people," said Yui, "they're definitely going on my Christmas list."

"When did you start a Christmas list?" Kirito asked.

"Just now," said Yui, "and…Kairi! What are you doing?!"

Kirito and Asuna turned around and saw Kairi walking up the road back towards Hell House.

"Kairi!" shouted an irate and worried Asuna.

"I'm sorry," said Kairi as she turned around but kept walking towards Hell House, "but I can't wait. Who knows what's happening to Chrissie and the others? I just can't wait four hours!"

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it!" said Asuna, "you can't do this alone!"

"Well, I have to do something!" shouted Kairi, "what would you do if your friends and loved ones were in dire straits and you were told to wait? Well? What would…" that's as far as Kairi got as she swooned and collapsed to the ground, only to be caught by Kirito and Asuna.

"I'm alright," said Kairi weakly, "I just need a second and…" but then her stomach growled loudly. She then laughed a bit, "and a snack."

"You need way more than a snack," said Asuna as she and Kirito helped Kairi stand up.

"I don't even know if I can eat in this world," said Kairi as they helped her back to the tavern.

"You certainly can," said Yui, "I guarantee it."

"And you will eat," said Kirito, "lunch is on us."

"Oh, that's not necessary," said Kairi modestly as she reached for her munny pouch.

"Nonsense," said Asuna, "Kirito-kun and I'd be sorry friends if we didn't splurge on lunch with you, now would we?"

* * *

A few minutes later found them sitting down at a table in Milliways, with Yui assuming her human form as she sat next to Kirito, while Asuna and Kairi sat across them. A NPC tavern wench took their order and in less time than it would in the real world, brought out a large loaf of bread and four bowls of stew that steamed enticingly. Kirito, Asuna and Yui ate eagerly, while Kairi looked down at her stew with unsure eyes.

"Eat up, Kairi," said Yui as she spread some butter on bread, "you're behind."

Cautiously, Kairi ate a spoonful. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight. She then proceeded to wolf down the stew and bread.

"Hey, take it easy," said Asuna, "you'll choke at this rate."

Kairi swallowed loudly, then tool a long drink from a mug of water, "sorry, I'm just amazed how real it tastes." She then finished her bowl of stew and mopped up the last of the gravy with some bread.

"It's supposed to taste real," said Kirito as he signaled for seconds.

"I actually feel it in my stomach," said Kairi, "I suppose, me being data and the food being data, it's real to me," she then looked at Kirito and Asuna, "but what about you two? What do you feel when you eat in the game?"

"Same thing you do," said Asuna, "we smell the aroma of the foot, taste its taste, feel the texture and experience everything else. But still, it's not real, we only _think_ it's real. Our bodies in the real world are still hungry."

"How'd you survive for two years in the game?" Kairi asked, "you must have been hooked up to I.V. machines. But after not moving for so long, your bodies…"

"Were atrophied, yes," said Asuna, "it took me almost five months of physical rehabilitation before I could walk without crutches, and I still get weak sometimes after exerting myself."

"Papa was back to his old self after less than two months of rehab," said Yui.

"Well, that just makes your father special, Yui-chan," said Asuna in a half teasing, half admiring tone.

After a second helping of stew and bread, with Kairi taking a third helping, the four of them leaned back and relaxed, with Kairi letting out a loud satisfied belch, then yawned deeply.

"Looks like you could use a few hours sleep," said Asuna, "I'll speak with the owner about a room."

"No, I'm alright," said Kairi as she tried to stand up, "I just…"

"When was the last time you really slept?" Kirito asked as Asuna spoke with the owner.

"Uh…let's see," said Kairi in a thoughtful manner, "we had just gotten back from Yubaba's bathhouse and were getting ready to look for the missing powers, I remember that much. We went to Equestria, and remind me to tell you about that later. Then we went to Metamore and Banoi, that's another story for later, and then we were in Rapture…I honestly don't remember when I last had a good night's sleep."

"Well, you'll sleep now," said Asuna as she came back, "I guarantee it, or at least the owner does. They've got the most comfortable, most restoring beds in all of the 6th floor here, or so the owner claims."

A short while later found the four of them in one of the tavern's rooms upstairs. The room was simple yet welcoming; two beds, a table and a wardrobe for clothes.

"Why don't you just relax and get some shuteye?" Kirito suggested, only to be forced out of the room by Asuna, "hey? What are you doing?!"

"I think what Kairi needs some girl time before bedtime," said Asuna, "so why don't you log out and meet me at my place for the college meeting?"

"Uh…" said an unsure Kirito.

"It'll be alright, Papa," said Yui, "Mama and I will look after Kairi."

"Well…okay," said Kirito, "just…"

"If there's a problem I'll PM you," said Asuna, "now go, you've got longer to travel to the real world than I do."

"Uh…right," said Kirito, "see you soon." He then brought up his menu and selected the logout feature, vanishing in a flash of light.

"Now, about you, Kairi," said Asuna as she walked to the wardrobe, pulled out a privacy screen and unfolded it, then selected from her inventory a simple white nightgown and handed it to Kairi, "get changed," she insisted.

"Uh…okay," said Kairi. She stepped behind the privacy screen, "you sure sending Kirito away like that was a good idea? I mean…what if something happens and…"

"We're in a safe zone, Kairi," said Asuna as Kairi changed out of her clothes and into the nightgown, "one of the principal roles governing online worlds such as ALO and SAO is that monsters and enemies cannot attack in safe zones such as towns and taverns like this."

"It's a bit more complicated than that, but yeah," said Yui, "you're safe here, Kairi."

"I wish I could believe you," said Kairi as she stepped out from the privacy screen and sat down on one of the beds, "if there's one sure thing about The Heartless is that they're unpredictable. Just when you think you've figured them out, they completely take you by surprise, and if you're even the slightest off your game, you're finished."

"You poor thing," said Asuna in a sympathetic, caring tone as she sat next to Kairi, "you must have been through hell and back."

"More than once," said Kairi as she leaned against Asuna's shoulder, at which she put a comforting arm around Kairi, "and I don't know how much longer I can keep going. But I have to. I've got to find Sora before something terrible happens to him, and before you ask, he's alive, I know Sora is."

"You must have a bond as deep as the Pacific Ocean," said Asuna.

"You can say that again," laughed Kairi, "I guess we're like you and Kirito. It doesn't take a genius to realize that he's your special someone and vice versa."

"It took us two years to realize how much we loved each other," said Asuna, "especially after he asked me to marry him."

"You're not really…?" asked Kairi.

"Just in the game," said Asuna, "but we'll get married for real when we're old enough. The moment I realized just how much I loved Kirito, I knew that come what may, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, just as he wants to be with me to the end."

"Sora and I are like that," said Kairi, "in a way we're kinda married, long story."

"I'll bet," said an impressed Asuna, "but you can tell me later. Right now you need to sleep." She and Yui, whom had shifted to her human form, helped Kairi into bed and tucked her in.

"You go back to the real world, Mama," said Yui, "I'll look after Kairi."

"Okay, Yui-chan," said Asuna, "and PM me if anything happens."

"Asuna, thank you," said Kairi, "for everything. Another person wouldn't have bothered."

"I'm not like that other person," said Asuna as she smiled reassuringly, "I'm just me."

"Well, I'm glad you're you," said Kairi.

Asuna smiled again, then logged out, vanishing in a flash of light.

"You're really lucky to have such wonderful parents, Yui," said Kairi, "but…if you're still here when they're not, then…"

"I'm an independent A.I.," said Yui, "and if you're wondering if I get lonely when Mama and Papa aren't here, I do, a bit. But I keep busy," she then opened a window which displayed various images from the real world, "I've got the whole internet to explore. Every day I learn more and more about our world, both real and digital, about humans and what it is to be human, the good and the bad."

"And what do you think about us humans?" Kairi asked.

"That you're fantastic creatures," said Yui, "absolutely fantastic. I can't wait for the day when technology has advanced enough to allow me to join Mama and Papa in the real world. You know, I've been thinking. If you really were digitized and the technology allows you to return to the real world, it might be used to one day help me."

"I hope so too," said Kairi in a calmer voice as her eyes began to close, "I hope to be there when you step into the real world, assuming I live long enough. I'm afraid of what'll happen next."

"Don't be," said Yui as she curled up next to Kairi, "I may be a program, but I can keep you safe, _Onesan_."

"I never had a sister," mumbled Kairi as she was about to fall asleep, "I was an only child."

"Well, you've got one now, _Onesan_ ," said Yui as Kairi fell asleep.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

Upon regaining consciousness, Kazuto removed his Nerve Gear, stood up and perform a series of stretches to ease his stiff joints. He went to the kitchen for a quick lunch, then went upstairs to change in more presentable clothes. Just as he finished putting on a collared shirt, trousers and a tie, he heard the front door opening and closing, followed by a familiar voice shouting from below, "I'm home!"

"Ah, Sugu!" said Kirito as he went downstairs to find his sister, Suguha, returning from practice at her school's kendo club, "how was practice?"

"The usual," said Suguha as she took her shoes off and set her stuff down, "you heading out, _Onisan_?"

"Yeah, Asuna has her college meeting and I promised I'd be there with her," said Kirito.

"Well, don't be too disappointed if she chooses to go to a college that's way out of your league," teased Suguha.

"She hasn't even decided if she does want to go to college," said Kirito, "and neither have I. We both want to keep our options open."

"I figured as much," said Suguha, "so, anything happening in Alfheim that I need to know about?"

"Yeah, something big," said Kazuto, "ever hear of Hell House?"

"The cursed dungeon on Floor 6?" Suguha asked, "yeah, I've heard of it. Wait, are you and Asuna…?"

"It's a long story, Sugu," said Kazuto, "and I'd tell you all of it but I've got to meet up with Asuna. But if you're going online today, would you do me a favor and check in with Yui? She's looking after a friend at Milliways on the 6th floor. She'll explain everything."

"Sure, no problem," said Suguha, "I'll take care of it in a bit. Tell Asuna I said good luck with the meeting."

"Will do," said Kazuto.

* * *

A short time later found Kirito on his motorcycle, driving to and arriving at Asuna's house. Yet as he pulled into the driveway, he noticed an unfamiliar car had arrived a few seconds before he did. A woman in her early 40's with graying dark blond hair, hazel eyes behind glasses, wearing a blue and white business suit and high heals and carrying a brown leather briefcase, exiting the car and walking towards the front door.

The woman then turned and saw Kazuto, whom had gotten off his motorcycle and was walking towards the house. "Kirigaya Kazuto, I presume?" the woman asked in Japanese, while her accent hinted of New England origins.

"Yeah," said Kazuto cautiously as he approached the woman, "and you are…?"

"Oh, I do apologize," said the woman, "in my profession I sometimes forget my manners. Dr. Samantha Armitage, from Miskatonic University, at your service. I'm here to see your beloved Yuuki Asuna about her future."

"You're the college recruiter?" Kazuto asked.

"In the flesh," said Dr. Samantha Armitage, "now, shall we go see your ladylove about the next step in her education?"

"Uh…yeah, sure," said Kazuto in a slightly confused tone. With that the two of them walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Asuna answered, dressed in a white blouse and orange sweater with a matching skirt and white stockings. "Kirito-kun!" she said happily as she saw Kazuto. She then saw Dr. Armitage, "Oh…you're here early. I wasn't expecting you until 3:00."

"Was it at 3:00?" Dr. Armitage asked in a slightly confused tone. She pulled out her phone and checked her schedule, "oh, my mistake. I set the reminder an hour too early. Still, I'm here now, so we might as well get down to business. May we come in?"

"Yes, of course," said Asuna as she showed them in to the living room and they sat down.

"Now, first thing's first," said Dr. Armitage as she opened her briefcase and pulled out a file filled with documents, "you'll forgive me if I'm slightly disorganized. My colleagues keep insisting that I go fully digital, but I prefer the feel of actual paper on my fingertips. Now," she opened the file, "academically speaking, Ms. Yuuki, you are an exceptional student; not _the_ best but certainly well above average."

"I'm just lucky, that's all," said Asuna.

"You're more than lucky," said Kazuto, "you're…"

"Above average?" Asuna interrupted.

"Brilliant, that's what," said Kazuto.

"You're also quite adept in many fields," said Dr. Armitage as she read more of Asuna's file, "excellent marks in math, science, languages," she then began speaking in English, "especially foreign languages."

"It helps to know how to talk to other people," said Asuna in carefully spoken English.

"That it is," said Dr. Armatige as she switched back to Japanese, "back to your school records, you've done well athletically, perfect attendance, not counting the two years spent in a cyber coma, and you've recently been getting top marks in home economics."

"The week before last I had an interview with a recruiter from one of the top culinary schools in France," said Asuna.

"Miskatonic has a more than decent culinary program," said Dr. Armitage, "history, literature, the many fields of math and science, and our athletic programs are, while not as boastful as those from Notre Dame, Duke, UCLA and whatnot, we're nothing to sneeze at either." She then pulled out from her briefcase a blue sweatshirt emblazoned with the letters M.U. in white on the front, while on the back was a gray and white squid, "Though we could do with a different mascot."

"'The Fighting Cephalopods?'" asked Kirito in careful English as he read the logo beneath the squid.

"Long story," said a slightly embarrassed Dr. Armitage. "Yes, our football team does get more than a few laughs from the crowd whenever they take the field, but like real giant squids, we're not to be taken lightly. And I'm sure that if you decide to join us, Ms. Yuuki, you'll find yourself warmly welcomed by our fencing team," she then looked at Kazuto, "while I'm sure you'll find more than a handful of other students wanting to form a kendo team, Mr. Kirigaya."

"I'm hardly ready to decide on a college," said Kazuto.

"It's never too early to plan for your education," said Dr. Armitage, "we've had our eyes on you too, Mr. Kirigaya. Even before you were imprisoned against your will, your grades and skills in computer sciences had tickled M.U.'s fancy."

"Well, I'm glad you want me for your school," said a slightly uncomfortable Kazuto. He then frowned slightly, "I'm sorry, but you never told us what you're a doctor of?"

"History and literature," said Dr. Armitage, "I'm the head librarian for M.U.'s main campus at Arkham, as was my father, his father and his father before him. It's been a bit of a tradition since my great-grandfather, Henry Armitage."

"And that's what bothers me," said Kazuto.

"What's bothering you, Kirito-kun?" asked Asuna.

"Why would the head librarian for an Ivy League school come halfway around the world to recruit to above average yet still ordinary Japanese students?" asked Kazuto.

At that Dr. Armitage smiled, "because you're not ordinary, that's why. I personally believe, and there are others back at M.U. who believes the same, that you two are among the most extraordinary youth alive; your experiences while trapped in cyberspace proves that."

"How does that prove anything?" Asuna asked, "yeah, we survived, but so did over six-thousand others. Why haven't you visited and offered any of them a place in your school?"

"Because you have something they lack," said Dr. Armitage, "you both died and came back to life."

"Is that all?" laughed Kazuto, "we've already been over this with the authorities. No one knows why Asuna and I survived when we should have died, not even Kayaba, and he's dead too."

"And yet part of him is still alive," said Dr. Armitage, "but that's a whole other kettle of fish. This is about you two. My colleagues and I both believe that there's something about you that allowed you to overcome and defeat Kayaba's programming; Was it some aspect of your brain chemistry? A genetic fluke or a slightly evolved genome? Maybe just sheer human willpower and strength of heart and soul? We don't know."

"And you want to experiment us to figure it out?" asked Asuna in a hard tone that was leaning towards outraged, "because if that's the case," she stood up and pointed at the door, "if that's the case, I humbly suggest you get the hell out of here and go back to America! Find someone else to be your guinea pigs!"

"You completely misunderstand," said Dr. Armitage in a placating manner as she stood up, "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. This is by no means a ruse to lure you into a lab for human experimentation."

"Then what do you want?" Kazuto asked as he stood up.

"To help bring out your full potential," said Dr. Armitage as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a white business card, "and to use that potential for the sake of all mankind."

She handed the card to Asuna. She and Kazuto looked at the card, reading the three black words printed on it, "'The Night Scholars.'"

"Um-hum," said Dr. Armitage as she took the card back, "'Saving the world since 1925.'" She then frowned slightly, "come to think of it, our own centennial has come and gone and we never even had a party. Oh well, there's always next century."

"I don't understand," said Asuna, "Dr. Armitage, just who are you?"

"A woman with a strange legacy, Asuna," said Dr. Armitage, "and please, call me Samantha."

"Okay, Samantha," said Kazuto as he, Asuna and Samantha sat down, "so, who are The Night Scholars?"

"A group of gifted individuals bound together with the purpose of keeping our world safe," said Samantha. "'Safe from what?' you ask. Well, the most simple version starts back with my great-grandfather, Henry Armitage. He and a few of his fellow M.U. staff helped prevent a plot to destroy the world, way back in the early 1920's. A lot of innocent people were killed in the process and a very dangerous and powerful artifact nearly fell into the wrong hands."

"What artifact?" Kazuto asked.

"An unabridged Latin translation of The Necronomicon," said Samantha, "quite possibly the most dangerous set of words to ever be penned by human hands, or inhuman, depending on how you look at it. Anyway, my great-grandfather, his fellow teachers and a few likeminded students, got together to create The Night Scholars. Their mission was to track down dangerous artifacts and keep them safe, while also locating and stopping humans who wished to use these artifacts for nefarious purposes."

"Why not just call the police?" Kazuto asked, "If these artifacts are real and as dangerous as you say they are, why not let the authorities handle it?"

"Like they'd believe us," said Samantha, "even today when technology is capable of producing near miracles, would you believe that manuscripts and antiquated items from the ancient world had powers that are almost like magic? If I were to tell you that there was, for example, an urn from a pre-Sumerian civilization that was capable of…again, for example, open a wormhole to another galaxy and allow hostile aliens to invade, would you believe me?

"Another example; if you were told that a group of deluded maniacs had gotten hold of a book of ancient magic and were planning on using it to rip a hole in the fabric of reality and allow god-like beings to come down and wreck havoc on the world and murder the human race, would you believe it?"

"I…I don't know," said Kazuto, "well…I wouldn't dismiss it outright. I always try to keep an open mind about things, especially things that science can't immediately explain."

"Good answer," said Samantha, "and another example, if you were somehow warned ahead of time that Sword Art Online was truly meant to trap ten-thousand innocent gamers in cyberspace, all to satisfy the mad desires of Kayaba Akihiko, would you believe it?"

"No," said Kazuto, "no one would have believed that Kayaba was capable of doing it. And the authorities were powerless to stop him."

"That's what The Night Scholars are for," said Samantha, "to handle potential crisis's that the authorities can't. Why us? If we don't do it, who will?"

"But why us?" Asuna asked, "yes, Kirito-kun and I defied Kayaba's programming, but why us? And even more, why me? Kirito-kun made it back to the real world, but then had to go back online to save me."

"Ah, yes, the ALO incident," said Samantha.

"Incident?!" exclaimed Kazuto as he stood up again, "that perverted piece of filth, Sugō Nobuyuki , he trapped 300 innocent minds to use them in mind-control experiments. He tortured them! And what's worse, what's even more unforgivable, is what he did to Asuna!"

"I know what he did," said Samantha as she stood up, a serious look on her face, "he trapped her in a gilded cage with daily threats of rape and suffering, all so he could live out his sick, fairytale fantasy. The man was a thief and a coward, he didn't even have the balls and know-how to make his own online world; he had to steal the software and programming from Kayaba's work. Well, what's done is done and the only thing we can do is move forward and try to make the future a little brighter.

"That's the bottom line here, Kirigaya Kazuto. That's why I'm here to recruit you and Yuuki Asuna. My colleagues and I believe that you two have what it takes to ensure our world a better and brighter future, to stop wicked minds and malicious otherworldly beings from plunging that future into darkness, a darkness that could be everlasting.

"Of course, you both have a choice in the matter. We don't force people into joining us. Our policy is to expose them to the truth of the world, little by little, so they can accept that not only magic is real, not only are aliens and godly beings real, but that our world is just one small, almost microscopic, part in a great and unsafe universe, a universe that wouldn't give a damn if our civilization, our race, our world were to simply blink out of existence.

"Some accept these truths, others don't, which is understandable. This is not for everyone and we respect those who chose not to. But if you do accept, if you wish to make a difference in the world and keep the darkness at bay, then you will, that I promise you."

"How often do you guys save the world?" Asuna asked cautiously.

"More than you might think," said Samantha, "it's a never-ending struggle, one that must be kept secret from the general population in order to avoid a global panic, and there would be one if man were to find out just how small he was in the grand scheme of things. It's a thankless job with only old books and artifacts as company, that and a group of dedicated friends whom always have your back."

She then took the card back from Asuna and wrote on the back of it, "I'm flying back to The States the day after tomorrow. Think about what I've said and whatever you decide, this is my cell number and hotel where I'm staying." She handed the card back to Asuna, "you will think about it, right?"

"Of course," said Asuna as she took the card, "won't we, Kirito-kun?"

"Yeah, of course we will," said Kazuto, "but, Samantha, what makes you think Asuna and I can make a difference in the world?"

"You already have," said Samantha as she repacked her briefcase, "the two of you saved 6,147 innocent lives, most of them children and young adults. You also prevented Sugō Nobuyuki , a man as mad as the Mad Arab Abdul Al-Hazred, from initiating a plan to enslave millions of minds."

"We had help most of the time," said Kazuto.

"Well, next time you'll have even more help," said Samantha, "assuming you decide yes."

"We'll think about it," said Asuna, "and thank you for coming."

"Thank you for having me over," said Samantha as she shook hands with Asuna and Kazuto.

"What a strange person," said Asuna after they showed Samantha out. They watched through the window as Samantha got into her car and drove off, "do you think she's for real?"

"About what?" Kazuto asked, "the part about magic being real, the aliens, gods and preventing the end of the world?" he shook his head, "I don't know."

"Well, she sounded sincere to me," said Asuna, "and she seemed sincere about us making a difference in the world."

"Well," said Kazuto as he looked at the card Samantha left them, "we've got a while to think it over. At the very least, we'd get to study abroad at an Ivy League school. So, what do you want to do now?"

"We've got a while before we're due back with the others," said Asuna, "couldn't we just hang out for a while and do nothing?"

"That's how this whole mess got started," said Kazuto, "with us just hanging out and doing nothing."

With that the two young lovers spent the next two hours sitting on the couch watching TV and enjoying each other's company. But then Kazuto's phone rang. "It's from Sugu," he said as he read the Caller ID, then answered, "hello."

" _Onisan_ , don't get upset," said Suguha on the other end of the call, "but we've got a bit of a situation."

"What kind of situation?" Kazuto asked.

"Kairi's gone," said Suguha, "I'm sorry, but she ran off."

"What?!" exclaimed Kazuto as he stood up, while Asuna stood up as well.

"You said you wouldn't get mad, _onisan_!" exclaimed Suguha.

"I never said I wouldn't!" said Kazuto.

"What's wrong?" Asuna asked.

"Kairi's gone," said Kazuto.

"What?!" exclaimed Asuna. She then grabbed Kazuto's phone and put it on speaker, "Suguha! What happened?"

"Oh, you're there too, Asuna?" asked Suguha, "how'd the interview go?"

"It was alright, but that's not important right now," said Asuna, "what happened with Kairi?"

"Please don't be mad at me, Asuna," said Suguha, "and don't be mad at Yui, there wasn't anything she could do, Kairi was already gone when I got there."

"What? Wait, start from the beginning," said Kazuto, "what happened?"

"Well, it's like this," said Suguha, "after you left the phone rang. It was _Okasan_ and she asked me to make a call for her, so I did, but I wound up at call waiting and was on hold for over twenty minutes. But then I was disconnected for some reason, so I had to start over, only this time I was on hold for almost forty-five minutes, and then when I finally got through to someone, I was put on hold again, so…"

"Sugu!" said Kazuto irately.

"Oh, sorry," said Suguha, "so anyway, I finally took care of the call and was free to log on. I got to Milliways on Floor 6, but then Yui-chan rushed out, looking like something terrible happened and she told me that Kairi ran away while she was asleep. Say, who's Kairi anyway?"

"I'll explain when I get home," said Kazuto, "I'm not mad at you or Yui, but I'm still upset."

"Me too," said Asuna.

"Kairi must be really important to make you both upset," said Suguha, "I'll be waiting for you here, _Onisan_." With that the call ended.

"You get home and log on," said Asuna, "I'll log on here and try to catch up with Kairi."

"Do you know where she's gone?" Kazuto asked.

"Where else would she go?" Asuna asked, "back to Hell House. We've got to catch up with her before she goes in alone and gets hurt, or worse."

"It's almost like SAO again," said Kazuto, "because if Kairi's been turned into data and is part of the game, then if she dies in the game, she may die for real."

 **The end of chapter 4.**

 _Next chapter finds our heroes and allies heading back to Hell House, with some new yet familiar faces joining the party. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	6. Chapter 5: Back to Hell House

_Last time found the team fracturing, with some of the gamers wanting out of the quest, with the rest sticking with Kirito, Asuna and Kairi. Leaving an exhausted Kairi in the care of Yui, Asuna and Kazuto logged off in order to meet with the college recruiter, Dr. Samantha Armitage, whom had far more than academics on the agenda. After hearing an offer too good to be true, Kazuto received a call from Suguha saying that Kairi was gone. 'Nuff said, on with the show!"_

 **Chapter 5: Back to Hell House**

Kazuto nearly broke the speed limit on his way back home, his motorcycle screeching to a halt outside his house where Suguha was waiting on the front porch.

"I had nothing to do with it, _Onisan_ ," said Suguha as Kazuto walked in, "and don't blame Yui, she…"

"I told you I'm not mad at anyone, Sugu," said Kazuto, "maybe Kairi, but not you or Yui. Let's just get back online and find Kairi before she gets into anymore trouble."

"Just one thing, _Onisan_ ," said Suguha, "who's Kairi?"

"I'll explain when we're back online," said Kazuto, "come on!"

The adopted siblings went upstairs to their respective rooms and readied their Full Dive equipment, Kazuto his Nerve Gear and Suguha her AmuSphere.

"Link Start!" they said once they were ready.

* * *

… **New Aincrad…Floor 6...Milliways…**

One double-login sequence later found Kirito and Leafa materializing outside Milliways. Hovering anxiously in front of the tavern was Yui.

"I'm sorry, Papa!" said Yui franticly as she flew up to Kirito, "I fell asleep and when I woke up, Kairi was gone!"

"I'm not mad at you, Yui-chan," said Kirito, "you did nothing wrong."

"But I did, Papa," said Yui, "I promised you and Mama that I'd look after Kairi, and now she's gone and who knows what's happened to her?"

"I can guess where she went," said Kirito, "but where's your mother? She must have logged back in by now."

"Mama did come in and is looking for Kairi," aid Yui, "she told me to stay and wait for you and Leafa. She was so upset, Mama, she looked ready to kill someone."

"She's just worried about Kairi, Yui-chan," said Kirito in a comforting manner, "you did nothing wrong, trust me."

"I…I do, Papa," said Yui as she calmed down and flew onto Kirito's shoulder, "it's just…for a while it seemed like Kairi and I were sisters, and then she ran away, and I couldn't stop her."

"Would someone please tell me who Kairi is and why is she causing so much grief?" Leafa asked.

"Just wait a minute, Leafa," said Kirito, "one thing first. Which way did your mother go, Yui?"

"That way," said Yui as she pointed up the road.

"Then that's where we'll go," said Kirito as he summoned his wings and hovered, while Leafa did the same, "now, Leafa, about Kairi."

Kirito spent the next several minutes explaining Kairi to Leafa, from when he and Asuna first found Kairi in The Town of Beginnings, meeting with Trillian, Albion, Xenophon, Mercedes, Felix and Beatrice, realizing that Kairi had been digitized, the connection with Hell House, exploring the cursed dungeon, all the way up to leaving her to rest while he and Asuna logged off.

"She's really flesh and blood?" Leafa asked as she, Kirito and Yui flew towards Hell House, "but digitized? How's that possible? That kind of technology doesn't exist, at least _I_ don't think so."

"Well, she's here and she's as real as we are in the real world," said Kirito, "and if Kairi gets hurt here, she really gets hurt."

"And if she dies in the game…" faltered Leafa, not wanting to finish her statement.

"Which is why we've got to find and stop her before she tries to take on Hell House all by herself," said Kirito.

"Look!" shouted Yui as she pointed ahead, "I can see Mama!"

Kirito and Leafa looked straight ahead and saw a blue dot chasing a red and pink dot.

"They're over the forest!" said Kirito, "let's go!" with that he, Yui and Leafa accelerated as fast as their faerie wings could take them, easily catching up with Asuna just as she reached the mountain atop which the cursed dungeon lay. But what was truly surprising was that Asuna was chasing after Kairi, whom was flying, without wings.

"This is impossible!" exclaimed Leafa as she saw Kairi dodge Asuna's attempt to grab her, "you can't fly in ALO without wings! How's she doing this?!"

"Let's find out!" said Kirito as he dove in to try and grab Kairi, whom saw him approach and dodged him, only to find Asuna try to come at her from another direction. Kairi avoided Asuna and flew up, forcing Asuna and Kirito to come at her at the same time. Kairi changed direction so fast that Kirito and Asuna had no time to alter course and wound up colliding with each other in midair.

But then Leafa began chanting a spell, the words of power appearing around her as the spell took shape. The incantation was completed and with a flash of light, Kairi was ensnared by heavy chains that dragged her towards the ground.

Kirito and Asuna recovered from their collision in time to dive and catch Kairi before she hit the ground, only to nearly drop her as Kairi struggled against the chains.

"Let me go!" exclaimed Kairi, "let me go! I have to save them!"

"I know you do!" said Kirito as he and Asuna held onto Kairi, "but you can't do it alone! Now stop struggling before you hurt yourself!"

"I'm already hurting!" said Kairi, "I'm hurting because I let everyone down!"

"If you don't calm down and pull yourself together, I'm gonna smack you!" said Asuna in a serious tone.

"She'll do it, Kairi," said Kirito, "she'll smack some sense into you no matter what."

At that Kairi stopped struggling and relaxed, allowing Kirito and Asuna to set her down in the ground, "now, before anything else, Kairi, this is my sister, Sugu."

"Call me Leafa," said the buxom Sylph as she smiled confidently.

"Nice to meet you," said Kairi. She then glared at Kirito and Asuna, "now, would you please take these chains off of me so I can save Chrissie and the others?"

"Why are you so driven to save your friends?" Asuna asked, "yes, they're your friends, but if you keep going on the way you are right now, you'll most likely get yourself killed, and then where will your friends be?"

"But I have to save them," said Kairi, "it's my fault they're in this mess."

"You remember more?" Kirito asked.

"I remember everything," said Kairi, "especially how I got here. Not how I wound up digitized, that part's still fuzzy, but how my friends and I wound up digitized. Sora and I, we and the others were in Rapture, an underwater metropolis that had doomed itself, long story. Chrissie and her friends, they'd helped us and we promised to take them to a better place that could possibly offer them a cure to the drug that they had become addicted to, another long story.

"But then we were attacked by Columbina, a sorceress of terrible dark power whom hates Sora and the rest of us so much she's willing to destroy entire worlds in order to take us out, and believe me, she tried."

"What'd you do to piss her off so bad?" Leafa asked.

"It's complicated," said Kairi, "regardless, Columbina is pure evil. Everything she touches, she corrupts into something foul and dark. Everything innocent she comes across she warps into something she can use as a weapon, or just for spite. She took a friend of mine, Bethany, an innocent girl, and destroyed her. Bethany, who had hopes and dreams for a better future after surviving hell on earth, who played designated hitter for her school's baseball team, is gone, and in her place is something Sora and I hoped would never become a reality; a Princess of Dark."

"Okay, you've lost me," said Leafa.

"It's another long story," said Kairi, "Bethany…no…Lady Darklight, she used her new dark powers against us. Sora and the others, we all were all but defenseless against her. We were thrown out of reality and separated by time and space. Sora, Riku, Aiden, Tess and Malcolm, they fell into one wormhole, while Chrissie and her friends fell into another, and all so Darklight could test her powers out. I just happened to be taken to the same world as Chrissie and her group wound up on because Columbina had people under her control working on something here."

"She's the one who had you digitized!?" said Asuna in an accusing tone.

"It seems that way," said Kairi, "but that's only part of why I'm so upset. Yes, my friends are lost somewhere in time and space and I couldn't do anything to save them, but I'll be damned if I don't save Chrissie and her friends, and I've got to save them before it's too late."

"Too late for what?" Kirito asked.

"Remember when I said they were addicted to a drug?" Kairi asked, "it's more than an addiction, it's a dependence. The drug, ADAM, has altered their DNA, granting them enhanced strength, speed, endurance, increased their intelligence and endowed them with magic-like abilities. But it all comes with a price."

"Of course it does," said Leafa.

"The drug must be so addicting that if they stop taking it, it could kill them," said Kirito.

"But not before driving them insane and mutating them into gibbering, homicidal maniacs," said Kairi, "that's why I need to find Chrissie and the others. I have to find and get them to someone who can make more of the special EVE they need to keep their addiction under control. They only had a few doses of EVE left when the crap hit the fan."

"Okay, now it all makes sense," said Kirito, "I understand why you're so upset, but we can't let you go off to save your friends, not alone."

"And we're certainly can't go until Xenophon and Mercedes get back," said Asuna, "come to think of it, I do believe some of our friends are online right now and are free to help. Just give me a second," she then brought up her contact list from her menu.

"Well, then," said Kairi, "if you're gonna do that, would you mind doing me just a small favor?" she then indicated her chains.

"I got it," said Leafa. She then chanted another spell and the chains vanished.

"Thanks," said Kairi as she stood up, rubbing her wrists where the chains bound her the tightest, "I think we got off on the wrong foot; nice to meet you, Leafa."

"Nice to meet you too, Kairi," said Leafa as she and Kairi shook hands, "are you really from another world? And how were you able to fly without wings?"

"I'm from a lot of worlds, depending on how you look at it," said Kairi, "as for my flying," she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch of Pixy Dust, "I remembered the few times Sora and I flew with this stuff. I don't know how but it appeared in my pocket when I remembered. As to how it works," she closed her eyes in concentration, smiled and rose up a few feet in the air, "just think happy thoughts."

"Happy thoughts, of course," said Kirito in a slightly exasperated tone as Kairi settled back on the ground.

Just then came four teleportation flashes, signaling the arrival of four individuals.

"Klien!" said Kirito, "Agil, Lisbeth, Silica!"

"Yo, Kirito," said Klien as he and the others approached, "what'cha getting us into this time?"

"Is this…no way," said Lisbeth as she looked up the mountain and saw the cursed dungeon, "is this Hell House?"

"You want to take on Hell House?" Agil asked, "no thank you!"

"That place is nothing but trouble!" said Silica, while her dragon partner, Pina, nodded in agreement.

"I know it's trouble," said Asuna, "but we have to go in there. But first thing's first. This is Kairi. Long story short, she's been digitized and uploaded into the game against her will. Kairi this are some of our friends from SAO."

"Lisbeth's a Leprechaun Blacksmith, Agil's an Axe-wielding Gnome who owns an item store, Silica's a Cait Sith Beast Tamer, while Klien's a Samurai Salamander. Don't let his rough appearance and sheer ugliness fool you, he's one tough player."

"At least I don't compensate my faults with really big swords," said Klien. He then looked at Kairi, "nice to meet you and are you looking for a boyfriend?"

Klien was then roughly shoved away by Lisbeth, "ignore him, he's girl crazy."

"Are you really here?" Silica asked in an awed tone, "that's your real body and stuff?"

"It certainly feels real to me," said Kairi.

"But who would do this to you?" Agil asked.

"A very evil woman and her very evil creation," said Kairi, "long story."

"The short version is that she pissed off a very bad sorceress and is now stuck here," said Kirito, "and so is some of her friends."

"Which is why we're gong to conquer Hell House come hell or high water," said Asuna.

"We'll have to go through a lot of water to get through Hell House," said Lisbeth, "that place is hardcore."

"It's more than hardcore," said Kairi. She then told Agil, Klien, Silica and Lisbeth about The Heartless and seeing Chrissie.

"And you think that these Heartless got into the game because someone hacked the dungeon?" Agil asked.

"They'd have to be the best hackers in like…forever!" said Klien, "no one was able to hack the original SAO."

"Which is why we're going to have to be extra careful," said Kirito, "because if I were these guys, then I'd be able to see whatever was going on in Hell House and record all data of the players who try to beat the dungeon."

"You think they saw and got data on us?" Asuna asked.

"Saw and analyzed," said Kirito, "they know our stats, items, magic and fighting styles, just as they know about every other player who's tried to beat Hell House."

"If they know all about ALO players," said Leafa, "they know each fairy race, their strengths and weaknesses."

"They'll cream us if we go in there!" said Lisbeth.

"Not this time," said Yui, "Mama, Papa, I think I know how we can conquer the dungeon and save Kairi's friends."

"How, Yui-chan?" asked Asuna.

"I can give you back your old stats," said Yui, "as strong as you were at the end of SAO, so you will be again here and now."

"You mean, how I was when I first started ALO?" Kirito asked, "with all my player stats and items? I thought I deleted it all when New Aincrad started."

"So did I," said Asuna, "I had my original player data erased when I turned in my Nerve Gear and bought an AmuSphere."

"We all had our old data deleted," said Agil, while Lisbeth, Klien an Silica nodded in agreement.

"Yes, your old data is gone, but not forgotten," said Yui, "the data still exists in the servers."

"Of course!" said Kirito, "it's still there! Gone but not forgotten!"

"What are you…oh, I get it!" said Kairi, "like how you can recover deleted data from a computer hard drive as long as the drive isn't reformatted."

"Exactly," said Yui.

"Can you do it, Yui-chan?" asked Silica, "bring back our old data?"

"Yeah," said Yui, "just give me a minute."

Just then came two teleportation flashes, followed by the appearance of Xenophon and Mercedes.

"We're back!" said Xenophon eagerly, "and we have the combination to the air shield!"

At that Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Leafa, Kairi, Klien, Agil, Silica, and Lisbeth, all looked at Xenophon as if he had just said something incredibly strange.

"What?" Xenophon asked, "oh crying out loud! Am I the only one here who's ever seen 'Spaceballs!?'"

"Is that some kind of sport?" Silica asked.

"Oh, God, I miss the 20th Century," sighed an exasperated Xenophon as he facepalmed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," said Mercedes, "anyway, we're back, and we may have something that can give us an edge over Hell House."

"We may have an edge ourselves," said Asuna.

"That's great," said Xenophon, "we're gonna need all the help we can get."

Just then there were four teleportation flashes, followed by the arrival of Beatrice, Felix, Trillian and Albion.

"Speak of the devil," said Mercedes with venomous vindictiveness, "the prodigal heroes return."

"We'll send you an apology email later," said Beatrice, "we've got work to do."

"What makes you think we want your help again?" Asuna asked as she put her hands on her hips, "you ran out on us."

"And all because you were afraid of losing your data and having to buy a new AmuSphere," said Kirito.

"Okay, I admit it, we wimped out!" said Felix, "I for one am filled with shame. If this were Ancient Rome, I'd either stab myself in the heart here and now, or go home, take a hot bath, slice my wrists and bleed to death."

"I'd just want to say I'm sorry," said Trillian as she walked up to Kirito, Asuna and Kairi, "I shouldn't have abandoned you," she looked at Kairi, "especially you. You needed our help and we let you down."

"It's alright, you came back," said Kairi, "that's all that matters."

"Well, we wouldn't have if Albion hadn't barraged our email mailboxes with messages shaming us into coming back," said Felix.

"I felt really bad about leaving," said Albion, "can you ever forgive me?"

"You're already forgiven," said Kairi, "and together, we'll beat Hell House."

"And figure out how to get you back to the real world," said Leafa.

"Uh, it seems some introductions are in order," said Albion as he looked at Leafa and the others.

"Are you kidding me?" Mercedes asked, "you don't know who these guys are?

"They're famous," said Trillian, "Not as famous as Kirito and Asuna, but still famous."

"Four legendary heroes of Sword Art Online," said Xenophon, "Agil, The Merchant of Algade; Lisbeth, the greatest blacksmith in all of Aincrad."

"Oh, please, you're too kind," said Lisbeth smugly.

"Silica," said Felix, "who ran all the way to hell to resurrect her beloved dragon, Pina."

"It really wasn't hell," said an embarrassed Silica, while Pina nodded in agreement.

"And Klien, leader of the Fuurinkazan Guild," said Beatrice as she walked up to Klien, "nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," said Klien, "and are you single?"

"Yes and I wish to stay that way," said Beatrice.

"Hey, I just realized something," said Trillian, "there's nine of us."

"You mean thirteen, counting Kairi, and Yui," said Lisbeth.

"No, I meant nine different faeries," said Trillian, "I'm a Pooka, Albion's an Imp, you're a Leprechaun, Klien's a Salamander, Agil's a Gnome, Silica's a Cait Sith, Leafa's a Sylph, Kirito's a Spriggan and Asuna's an Undine."

"Okay, so you're different races," said Mercedes, "lots of fantasy RPG's have parties made up of different races."

"Remind me to tell you about some of the races from the early Ultima games," said Xenophon, "now that's old school gaming."

"You still don't get it," said Trillian in a disappointed tone, "the whole idea of Alfheim Online was for the nine faerie races to fight and PK each other, not to get along."

"That was Sug 's intent," said Kirito, "he didn't want any of the races to join forces to make it to the top of The World Tree."

"I think I get it," said Kairi as she looked at Kirito and the other ALO players, "this must be the first time a member from each of the nine faerie races has worked together."

"Huh? Oh! You're right!" said Leafa happily, "this is gaming history we're living in."

"Well, that's just fantastic," said Beatrice, "now," she looked up the mountain where Hell House waited, "how to crack this demonic nut?"

"Can't we just enjoy the moment before jumping into the jaws of hell again?" Trillian asked.

"If we get out of it alive, yes," said Xenophon, "anyway, I talked to some really smart and computer savvy friends of mine and they believe they know how the dungeon was hacked. They don't know who, but they have a theory about the method."

" _Our_ hacker friends are trying to trace the evil hackers," said Mercedes, "and in the meantime they've sent us a program that can raise our stats while in Hell House; I'll be stronger, faster, tougher and all in all, kick at least four times as much ass."

"Where as I will have my own attributes quadrupled," said Xenophon, "which means more spell casting, longer lasting spell effects, more stamina and magical energy, not to mention being able to cast spells faster."

"That's cheating," said Lisbeth as she smiled mischievously.

"Our enemies are cheating," said Xenophon, "they've changed the game in their favor, making it all but impossible for us to win by playing fair."

"Sometimes the only way to win is to cheat," said Beatrice, "and sometimes it's not the fact that you _do_ cheat, but _how_ you cheat."

"Any chance you can send us this program?" Felix asked.

At that Xenophon brought up his menu, selected an item, which appeared in the game as a blue sphere. Xenophon then activated the item, allowing him access to encrypted areas of his menu.

"You're actually altering your player data," said an impressed Beatrice.

"If any GM or Admin were to catch us, we'd be banned from gaming for life," said Albion.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," said Xenophon as he finished hacking his player data, then transferred the item to Mercedes, whom then began hacking her own data.

"It's like an old Game Genie," said Trillian.

"Or the Konami Code," said Albion.

"Oh, so I'm not the only one with nostalgia for the old days," said an impressed Xenophon.

"Well, we've got our own Konami Code," said Kirito, "or we will as soon as Yui-chan finishes her work."

"Almost done, Papa," said Yui as she focused her thoughts. Behind her innocent eyes lay a powerful artificial intelligence that was searching through buried computer files for recoverable data.

Finally she smiled with satisfaction, "there they are: the backup servers for Sword Art Online. Just a little more digging and…there! Your stats will return to what they were any second now."

"I feel it already!" said Lisbeth as she opened her menu, "check out those numbers!"

"I feel like I could pick up where we left off in the old Aincrad," said Klien as he, Silica and Agil examined their stats.

"What about me? I was never in the old Aincrad," said Leafa.

"That's what this is for," said Xenophon as he held up the hacking sphere, "it's yours if you want it."

"Uh…let me think about it for a second," said an unsure Leafa. "Are you sure that this thing is safe?"

"As safe as our hacker friends say it is," said Mercedes, "then again, a lot of hackers aren't very social and aren't that trustworthy, so who knows?"

"Life is a gamble," said Beatrice, "sometimes you have to throw the dice and hope for the best."

"Would you look at that!" said Asuna as she examined her inventory. She selected an item and equipped as her main weapon a magnificently crafted rapier. She drew the blade and held it out, examining it from all sides.

"Ah, Lambent Light," said Lisbeth in an impressed tone, "one of the best rapiers in the game."

"Hello, old friend," said Asuna as she looked adoringly at Lambent Light, "it's been a while."

Kirito then opened his inventory and selected an item. On his back across from his great sword materialized a black scabbard in which was sheathed a large pitch-black and gray trimmed sword with an elaborate hilt and cross guard.

"And that's Elicudator," said Lisbeth, "another powerful sword," she frowned a bit, "it broke one of the best that I made."

"Kirito, your Dual Blade skill!" said Klien.

At that Kirito lifted his great sword and Elicudator and swung a few practice swings with both, "this brings back memories." He then sheathed his swords, then looked into his inventory again, blinking with surprise as he found an item, "oh, another old friend." He selected another item and in his hands appeared a black coat.

"Your old Coat of Midnight," said Asuna.

"You still have that thing?" Lisbeth asked, "that thing's seen better days."

"It's the same as it was that last day in the old Aincrad," said Kirito as he brushed some dust off the coat.

"Aren't you gonna put it on?" Leafa asked.

"No," said Kirito, "this belonged to Kirito the Beater, the most hated player in Sword Art Online. That player doesn't exist anymore."

"Well, you still have that coat," said Silica, "it'd be a waste to just throw it away."

"I'll take it if you don't want it," said Agil, "it still has an evasiveness and stealth boost. I'm sure some player in need would appreciate it, so I'll take it off your hands, Kirito, for a reasonable price."

"Oh sure, and pay me a fraction of its worth and quadruple the retail price when you try to sell it?" asked Kirito, "I don't think so! I'd rather give it away," he then looked at Kairi and handed her the Coat of Midnight.

"For me?" Kairi asked, "I…no, I can't accept this."

"You don't like it?" Kirito asked.

"Well…I kinda do," said Kairi, "but I just can't. I appreciate the offer, thank you, but…"

"But nothing," said Asuna in an insisting manner, "you'll take the coat and like it!"

"Alright, _mother_ ," said Kairi in a sarcastic manner as she took the coat from Kirito, while Yui giggled.

"What?" Asuna asked.

"Nothing, Mama," said Yui as she smiled innocently.

"Well?" Kairi asked as she tried on the coat, "what do you think? It's too big for me, right?"

"No, it fits you well," said Kirito.

"Really well," said Asuna, "in fact, it's almost as if it was made for you."

"No way," said Kairi, "it fitted Kirito and we're two completely different sizes."

"Well, see for yourself," said Lisbeth as she brought out a large hand mirror from her inventory. Kairi looked at her reflection and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Coat of Midnight did fit her well.

"How'd you do that?" an astonished Trillian asked.

"It's almost as if she can alter the programming of the item," said Beatrice, "instinctively, that is."

"Like how she was able to imagine Pixy Dust and some of it appeared in her pocket," said Leafa.

"Pixy Dust?" Mercedes asked.

"Yeah, Pixy Dust," said Kairi as she sprinkled a few pinches of the golden dust on her head, renewing her power of flight, which she then displayed to Mercedes and the others.

"Well, you're just full of surprises," said an impressed Mercedes.

"Oh, before I forget," said Kairi as she landed on the ground again, she then summoned her Keyblade and showed it to Lisbeth, Klien, Silica, Agil and Leafa.

"Nice," said an impressed Lisbeth as she examined the Keyblade, "very nice. Where'd you get it?"

"A friend gave it to me," said Kairi, "long story, and it's not for sale."

"Hey, I'm not that kind of girl," said Lisbeth, "if I wanted a sword like this, I'd figure out how to make it. You want someone who'd buy it cheep off of you and sell it at a premium to some hapless sucker, talk to Agil."

"I'm not that much of a skinflint," said Agil.

"Sure you're not," teased Lisbeth.

"Give me the thing," said Leafa to Xenophon.

"That was some fast thinking," said Xenophon as he transferred the hacking item to Lisbeth.

"I just want to be on the same playing field as _Onisan_ and the others," said Lisbeth as the item quadrupled her stats, "nothing more, nothing less. This is temporary, right?"

"It should be," said Xenophon, "just delete the item from your inventory before you logout and your stats should be back to normal the next time you login."

"Good to know," said Trillian, "so let's go bust some ghosts already!"

With that everyone either flew, jumped or was carried, up the mountainside and was at the front door of Hell House. This time they were ready for when the door opened by itself.

"Anyone want to back out, now's the time," said Kirito.

"Not this time," said Beatrice, "let's do this."

"My friend Aiden always said that before we got into trouble," said Kairi.

"Well, I'm happy to invoke his words for you," said a grinning Beatrice.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"Look who's back for Round 2," said Dr. Remington as he, Drs. Weatherby and Winchester, saw on the main screen as Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others, walked into the foyer of Hell House.

"They brought reinforcements this time," said Dr. Weatherby, "and the three who were defeated before, they've returned," he checked a data readout, "with uninfected characters no less."

"They must have figured out how to purge their data and Amuspheres of the virus," said Dr. Winchester, "no matter. This time we'll give them a lesson in terror that they'll never forget."

"Enough Heartless to wipe out all of Kairi's friends," said Dr. Remington, "leaving her alone for us to do with as we please."

"Someone get some popcorn," said Dr. Weatherby, "I'm going to enjoy this."

* * *

 **…Hell House…**

 _"Welcome, brave mortal travelers. We're so pleased you decided to stop by. The masters of the house, all 999 resident spirits, wish you a pleasant stay, one that will be long and…_ _ **well resting**_ _."_ the voice then laughed again.

"Yeah, yeah, get on with it already," said an impatient Mercedes.

"It's a pre-rendered aspect of the dungeon," said Beatrice, "you can't skip it."

"It's not a cutscene?" Mercedes asked.

"Since when has any of Kayaba's work ever had cut scenes?" Xenophon.

 _"Alas, the masters of the house aren't in the best of moods today. You've come at a most unfortunate time. A most unwelcome guest has arrived before you, one that has brought nothing but trouble to this humble haunted house."_

"Will you hurry up already!" snapped Mercedes, "we want to start the freaking quest!"

 _"The masters have asked me to submit to you this request,"_ the voice continued, _"to rid this most esteemed mansion of the unwelcome…"_

All of a sudden the voice cut out.

"That's more like it," said Mercedes.

Just then the foyer expanded to the size of a basketball court and was filled with scores of data-type Heartless.

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" snapped Felix as he and the others readied their weapons, just as the first of the data-type Heartless rushed at them, only for Xenophon blasted them with a wave of fire from his staff, followed by another wave of fire from Leafa.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"What the frak?" a confused Dr. Remington asked as he and the other Foundation X personnel watched the battle, in which Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others effortlessly mowed down the data-type Heartless. No matter how many new Heartless were spawned, the heroes were able to easily destroy them.

"Either the instruments are defective," said Dr. Weatherby, "the Heartless are defective, our eyes are deceiving us, or those players are much, much stronger than before?"

"Easily three times as strong," said Dr. Winchester as he checked a data readout, "or more."

"'Or more?!'" asked Dr. Weatherby, "how is this possible?"

"I don't know, we have insufficient data at this time," said Dr. Remington venomously as he watched the online battle in progress, "look at those brats with their absurd clothing and ridiculous weapons. How I detest online roll playing games and those who waste their lives playing them."

"Then why are you involved in this project?" Dr. Winchester asked.

"Because the ends justify the means," said Dr. Remington.

"I think we've had enough of watching those brats make mincemeat out of The Heartless," said Dr. Weatherby. "Gentlemen, I believe it's time to unleash DiDe."

"She's not ready!" snapped Dr. Winchester.

"She'll never be ready at the rate you're going," said Dr. Weatherby coldly, "no, I believe that she's as ready as she'll ever be."

"And you wish to use her on these impudent gamers?" asked Dr. Remington.

"And use her to torment Kairi until her soul shatters," said Dr. Weatherby, "she just needs a few adjustments and she's good to go." With that he went to one of the terminals and began typing.

"Are you certain about this?" Dr. Winchester asked, "this is a highly experimental bit of software you're toying with."

"She's more than software, you fool!" snapped Dr. Weatherby, "she is the greatest Artificial Intelligence ever created! And she will be magnificent!" He then finished typing, upon which a holographic icon appeared on the screen.

 **DIGITAL DEMON**

 **READY FOR ACTIVATION  
RUN PROGRAM?**

 **Yes/No**

"Yes we are ready," said Dr. Weatherby.

"You realize that if you activate her and something goes wrong," said Dr. Winchester, "you do realize that our superiors, they'll have our heads on pikes, right?"

"Pish tosh," said Dr. Weatherby, "we'll be fine. You should worry about what DiDe will do to those gamers." he then pressed the Yes icon, which flashed green.

 **DIGITAL DEMON ACTIVATING**

"Well, we're in it now," said Dr. Remington as an upload status bar appeared on the screen, which quickly rose from 0 to 100% in seconds, "up to our necks."

"I happen to like my head attached to my head, thank you very much," said Dr. Winchester.

* * *

… **Hell House…**

"Have some of this!" shouted Leafa, whom then cast a spell that caused a dozen Magnum Loaders to shrink to the size of field mice, which were then squashed by Klien and Felix.

"Man, this is too easy," said Klien as he decapitated a Striker, then impaled a Devistator, "the way I feel now, I wouldn't mind another crack at that Skull Reaper from Floor 75."

"Don't you dare!" snapped Lisbeth, "that thing killed fourteen of us!" she then stabbed a Magnum Loader, then blocked a blast from a Devastator. "Though this is getting a little boring."

"Yeah, where's the challenge if we're too strong for these yoyo's?" asked Mercedes.

"At least it gives us a chance to go all out on these things!" said Xenophon as he readied a spell, "Taste the Rainbow, mother frakers!" he then raised his hand and sent out seven rays of colored light that had different effects on the gathered Heartless. The red light inflicted fire damage, the orange inflicted acid damage, yellow electricity, green acid, blue petrified, indigo caused some of the Heartless to turn on and destroy each other, while violet vanished others.

But then the creatures all teleported out, causing some of our heroes to falter in their attacks and fall onto the floor.

"What the hell was that?!" Trillian asked as Beatrice helped her up.

"Kairi, you're the expert on these things," said Kirito as he and Asuna looked around with alert eyes, "is this some kind of trap?"

"Heartless don't set traps," said Kairi, "they barely think as it is. But whoever's controlling them, they're the ones we need to worry about."

"Or maybe it's me you need to worry about," said a female voice that came out of nowhere, a voice that was both playful and sinister at the same time.

"Now what?" Felix asked, "is this part of the dungeon?"

"G-g-ghosts?" Silica asked nervously, "no one said anything about g-g-ghosts!"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a few spooks," said Albion.

"This dungeon has a haunted house theme," said Trillian, "what'd you expect for Halloween?"

"Oh, I've got nothing to do with Halloween," said the female voice, "but I've got everything to do with Hell House."

"If you're a ghost that's part of the house, you'd better stop!" said Lisbeth irately but slightly nervously, "we're not in the mood!"

"Then you had best get into the mood," said the voice in a much more malicious tone, "your very souls depends on it."

"Come out and face us then, ghost!" snapped Xenophon.

"And feel free to tell us where your body is!" said Mercedes.

"Why would you want to know where its body is? Agil asked.

"So we can dig it up and salt and burn the bones, duh!" said Mercedes, "that's how you banish a ghost to the other side."

"I'm no ghost," said the voice in a serious tone.

Just then in a flash of dark purple light, appeared a woman in her mid 20's with long, jet black hair, dark purple eyes, pale skin with a very alluring face, black eye-shadow, lip gloss and nail polish, wearing a dark red dress and high-healed boots that accented her sensual figure.

But then our heroes realized that the woman was far from human. Her smile revealed two rows of perfectly white teeth that ended in needle-like points, while her ears were also pointed. From her forehead sprouted a pair of short, curving horns, while a tail that ended in an arrowhead-like point grew from her lower back.

"Allow me to introduce myself," said the nightmarish woman, "I am The Digital Demon, or DiDe for short."

"Hello, DiDe," said Asuna, "so, what is it you want?"

"What do I want?" DiDe asked, "What I want is to play a game."

"That's what we were doing before this god-awful mess got started!" said an exasperated Lisbeth.

"Oh, this is a different game," said DiDe, "one that you'd be wise enough to back away from while you still have your souls."

"What are you getting at?" Kirito asked.

"It's both simple and complicated," said DiDe, "I was created by men and women whom wish to fully determine the extent of the human psyche, especially how far you humans are willing to go to stay alive. In order to achieve this goal, they need human test subjects to experiment on, to push those humans to the breaking point and beyond, just to see how much they're willing to sacrifice to keep living, if only to stave off death for just a while.

"Naturally, my creators cannot use real, live humans for their experiments, least they attract the attention and wrath of the authorities. So they came up with a rather brilliant method of gaining the data they need without inflicting any harm on a real person."

"Hell House," said Beatrice in a matter of fact tone, "your creators hacked the dungeon and are using it to gather data on the players who try to beat it."

"How'd you figure that out?" Klien asked in amazement and confusion, while Kairi, Kirito and the others looked at her with equal amazement and puzzlement.

"It'd take too long," said Beatrice as she adjusted her glasses, "needless to say, I am correct, right?"

"That you are," said DiDe with reluctant respect.

"But how are you gathering data?" Asuna asked, "how…of course! The corrupted character data and infected Amuspheres!"

"You're scanning the minds of the players who come into Hell House," said Kirito.

"My creators found a loophole in the Amusphere's anti-malicious software programming," said DiDe, "when a player dies in this hacked dungeon, their minds are open for a fraction of a second. This fraction of a second is enough for my creators to scan those minds and upload a copy of that player's psyche to their servers."

"You must have servers up the ying-yang!" exclaimed Xenophon, "the human mind is so complex…"

"They had to create a new design for data storage," said DiDe, "a server, light-years ahead of current technological levels of this world, one for each human mind scanned and copied. The player in question is left completely unharmed, with the only side effect being their gamming software and hardware is corrupted."

"But what about the copied minds?" Asuna asked, though she suspected the answer and she didn't like it one bit, "what happens to them?"

"Do you have to ask," said Kirito irately as he glared at DiDe, "you torture them."

"You humans have come up with such brilliant methods of inflicting pain and suffering," said a grinning DiDe, "and even more ingenious means of keeping your victims alive."

"Why?" Asuna asked in an outraged tone, "why go through all this just so you can torture innocent minds!?"

"They're not real minds, mind you," said DiDe, "just copies with no real hearts or souls. They're not alive, so we can do whatever we want to them without fear of reprisal. You must admit, this is a much more efficient method of experimentation than to use real humans."

"It's still wrong!" snapped Kairi, "it's sick, twisted, sadistic and just plain evil! And we're going to stop you!"

"The second we logout, we're going straight to the authorities!" exclaimed Albion, at which Trillian, Mercedes, Klien and Agil nodded in agreement.

"You're not going anywhere," said DiDe in a matter of fact tone. She then looked at Kairi, "not unless you want your friends to die needlessly."

"Chrissie and the others!" said Kairi, "What are you doing to them?! Did you digitize them like you did me!?"

"No," said DiDe, "but they are here, so to speak. You, Kairi, were sent to my creators by Columbina to be tortured and utterly destroyed. Your memory loss and disorientation was a side effect of a first true attempt to digitize living matter and upload it into cyberspace. The process is reversible, but I doubt you'll survive to make the attempt.

"As for your friends, the fact that fell into my creator's hands first was pure luck. Their bodies are back in the real world, but their minds are here in my house."

"Full Dive gear," said Kirito, "you've got them trapped here in the game."

"They're each wearing a Nerve Gear," said DiDe, "six units recovered when the entire line was recalled after SAO was shutdown."

"You made them wear Nerve Gears?!" exclaimed Klien, while Kirito, Asuna and the other players looked horrified.

"What difference does that make?" Kairi asked.

"Remember when we told you that we couldn't logout of SAO?" Asuna asked, "Kayaba rigged the Nerve Gears to microwave our brains."

"If we died in the game or if someone tried to remove the helmets in the real world, we'd die," said Kirito.

"The same will happen to your friends if someone interferes with them back in my creator's lab," said DiDe, "or if they die in this world."

"So what do you want with me?" Kairi asked.

"To make you suffer until you're destroyed," said DiDe, "and I'll do that by making you and your friends here play a game. Like all games, you must play by the rules, and such simple rules they are."

"We're listening," said Xenophon.

"Good," said DiDe, "because I'll only explain them once…

" **Rule 1: God came into my house and I killed God.**

" **Rule 2: While in my house, you risk death, true death, just like in SAO."**

"That's a load of donkey crap!" snapped Albion, "you can't kill us for real! You can't even hurt us for real!"

"Wanna bet?" DiDe asked as her fingernails sharpened and elongated into claws. Before anyone could react, she swiped her nails at Albion, earning a yelp of surprise and pain from him.

"What'd you do that for?!" snapped Albion as he felt his face, "you could have…oh wait, you can't hurt…wait…that did hurt! That really did hurt!"

"You're bleeding!" exclaimed Trillian.

Albion took his hand away from his face and was utterly shocked to see blood.

"This can't be," said Kirito, "you can't bleed in a Full Dive game."

"You can while you're in my house," said DiDe as Trillian pulled out a handkerchief and used it to staunch the cut on Albion's face, "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the next rule…

" **Rule 3: You have twelve hours to locate and rescue the six humans imprisoned in my house. If you fail to reach all six, you die. If you try to logout, you die. If anyone from the real world interferes, you die. If any other players interfere, you die.**

"That's more than three rules," said Leafa.

"I'm still working on them," said DiDe irately, "and here's the most important one…

" **Rule 4: All windows and doors to the outside will be locked and remain locked until Kairi kills one of her companions. Fail to do this and you all die."**

"What does that mean?!" exclaimed Asuna.

"It means that one must die for the others to live," said DiDe as she smiled wickedly, "and the one to do the killing must be Kairi. This is how she is to suffer and be destroyed, for, so I've been told, she is utterly incapable of hurting those she cares for, or is she? That's what the game will determine; if she is capable of making the supreme sacrifice, to pay the ultimate price, to lose her soul for the salvation of the others?

At that DiDe walked up to Kairi, "what will you do? Kill one friend to save the rest? Or allow your own morality keep you from saving your own life and let everyone to die? You have twelve hours to think things over, so let the game begin!" she then backed away, laughing like the demonic creature she was as she vanished.

"I knew I should have stuck with playing consol games," said Albion.

 **The end of chapter 5.**

 _Next chapter finds Kairi facing horrors greater than she could imagine. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	7. Chapter 6: DiDe's Games

_Last time found Kirito, Asuna and Leafa stopping Kairi from going back to Hell House alone. Reinforcements in the form of old friends and new friends arrived and, after some slightly illegal power boosting, our heroes took on Hell House once again. Back in the real world, the team from Foundation X decided to pull out all the stops and let lose DiDe, the Digital Demon, whose mission was to make Kairi suffer until her heart breaks. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 6: DiDe's Games**

"She was kidding about all of that, right?" Klien asked, "about us being trapped in the dungeon, right? About her killing us and forcing Kairi to kill one of her friends, right?"

"Gee, you tell me," said Albion irately as he held a strip of cloth at his bleeding face.

"Hold still," said Trillian as she held up a healing item to the cut and used it, yet the wound only scabbed over.

"That should have healed it completely," said Trillian.

"OUCH!" exclaimed Asuna after she pinched herself, "well, looks like we're all affected."

"If we can bleed in here," said Kirito in a distant tone, "we can be killed, just like in SAO."

"But how?" Mercedes, "how can that demon bitch kill us while we're in ALO? Sure, she could kill us if we were all using Nerve Gears, then she could microwave our brains."

"But we're using AmuSpheres," said Xenophon, "they're designed to be incapable of inflicting any and all harm on our bodies back in the real world."

"That's true," said Beatrice, "but nevertheless, we can experience pain now, even bleed. It's clear that DiDe has control over just how real this virtual world can be, especially how we experience it."

"Like how Sugu was able to hurt Kirito," said Asuna, shuddering as she remembered what the lunatic did to her and Kirito.

"He was able to alter the level of pain absorption," said Kirito, "something only a GM or an Admin could do."

"DiDe clearly has privileges above and beyond the level of GM's and Admins," said Beatrice, "but as to how she can kill us, I believe I have a theory. I assume I'm not the only one here who's seen 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' right?"

"With Robert Englund as Freddy Kruger?" Mercedes asked, "you tell me someone who hasn't seen it."

"The 2010 reboot was just awful," said Felix, at which Trillian, Albion, Agil, Klien and Lisbeth all nodded.

"I keep telling everyone I know that Hollywood just isn't what it used to be," said Xenophon, "they keep recycling the same stories and plotlines, rebooting classic films for modern audiences, only to churn out crap that barely qualifies as a movie. And when it's not crap, it's either mediocre or barely good. And a lot of the original stuff they're producing these days is little more than crap as well."

"You were saying how DiDe can kill us," said Kirito.

"Yes, of course," said Beatrice. She cleared her throat before continuing, "not many people know but 'Nightmare on Elm Street' was inspired by real life events. It's rare but documented that some people can be scared to death in their sleep."

"Like by a nightmare?" Asuna asked.

"One that's so realistic, so terrifying," said Beatrice, "so stressful on your heart and nervous system that it triggers a heart attack."

"The bitch, she's gonna try and scare us to death," said Mercedes in a serious tone.

"That doesn't make sense," said Kairi, "I thought the Full Dive system blocks the signals from the brain to the spinal cord and to the rest of the body."

"It does block our motor functions," said Kirito, "intercepting and changing those signals into data to be processed inside the game. But it also leaves the brainstem free to act."

"The part of the brain that regulates the heart and lungs," said Xenophon, "the part that reacts to physical and emotional stress."

"Ever notice how fast your pulse gets when you become excited or terrified by something?" Beatrice asked, "how nervous you get before an important test at school? Or when your special someone is about to kiss you? Do any of you realize just how much stress the body goes through when experiencing fear? There's a limit to how much stress the heart can take before it gives out. It's different for everyone, but fear _can_ kill you."

"Just like in Nightmare on Elm Street," said Trillian.

"Oh! Or like in The Matrix!" said Albion eagerly, "if the mind dies, the brain and body dies with it."

"In a nutshell," said Beatrice.

"So, we just won't die," said Kairi in a slightly unsteady tone, "which is going to be kinda hard considering what DiDe said about her last rule. I have to kill one of my friends or everyone dies."

"We don't know that," said Asuna in a reassuring manner, "for all we know she was just messing with us."

"She wasn't lying about no way out," said Agil as he, Klien, Lisbeth and Silica tried the front door, finding it as unmovable as a brick wall.

"That door was gonna get locked no matter what," said Mercedes, "just show me a window and I'll punch my way out. In fact, I think I'll punch that door out."

"Wait! Don't!" shouted Kirito as Mercedes rushed at the door and punched it. Several cracks had appeared in the door and frame, only for the cracks to vanish in a flash of data.

"Seriously!?" exclaimed Mercedes as she punched the door again, then again and again, each time the door was restored before she could hit it again.

"No way a stupid door is gonna stop a Slayer!" exclaimed Mercedes irately. She then kicked the door, then winced and cried out in pain as she stumbled back, hopping on one foot as she clutched at the other.

"I warned her," said Kirito as Asuna and Leafa made Mercedes sit down and take off her boot, "you all heard me warn her, right?"

"You could have warned me louder!" snapped Mercedes as Asuna and Leafa examined her foot.

"It's not broken," said Leafa, "just twisted." She then looked at Mercedes, "and let this be a lesson to you."

"Yeah, don't kick down demonic doors," said Mercedes as she put her boot on and was helped back up by Asuna and Leafa.

"I mean not taking deadly games lightly," said Leafa, "I don't even want to guess how many times _Onisan_ , Asuna and the others in SAO nearly died."

"Enough to live," said Klien.

"Tell that to the 4,000 who didn't make it," said Lisbeth irately, "what about teleporting? And how about just plain logging out?" At that she pulled out a teleport crystal, "Teleport: Yggdrasil City!" yet nothing happened.

"Teleport: Yggdrasil City!" exclaimed Lisbeth as she shook her crystal, "Yggdrasil City! What's the matter with this thing?!"

At that Kirito tried the logout option, only to be met by a red window that appeared in front of his menu.

 **WARNING**

 **LOGOUT OPTION UNAVALABLE**

 **PLEASE CONTACT NEAREST GM FOR ASSISTANCE**

"The same thing that's keeping us from logging out," said Kirito as he closed his menu, "DiDe."

"So, we're really trapped here?" Silica asked nervously, "and that horrible woman, she can really kill us?"

"Only if we let her," said Kirito in a reassuring manner.

"We didn't let SAO kill us," said Asuna, "and we certainly won't let a hacked dungeon kill us now."

"But what if death is inevitable?" Kairi asked, "what if I really do have to kill one of my friends in order to save the others? To save you guys?"

"I refuse to believe that the only way out for all of us is through murder," said Asuna. "And I especially refuse to believe that you have to damn yourself in the process, Kairi."

"But what if it is?" Kairi asked, "what if I truly have to lose myself to the darkness in order for everyone else to get back to the light?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," said Kirito, "right now we should focus on finding your friends, then worry about getting everyone out alive, and I mean everyone."

"If anyone's gonna die, it's that DiDe bitch," said Mercedes as she tenderly stood on her twisted ankle, "wouldn't be the first hellspawn I've vanquished."

"That was back in your game," said Felix, "where demons are programmed to be vanquished."

"A demon is a demon," said Mercedes, "doesn't matter where you meet one; online or in the real world, there's always a way to send it back to hell, if not outright destroy it."

"DiDe was created by men," said Lisbeth.

"Then we'll delete her and send her creators to hell," said Mercedes, "now stop talking and let's go find Kairi's friends!" she then walked forward with a slight limp, "unless you want me to go ahead all by myself."

"And miss out on a chance to test my mettle against a demon? No way!" said Klien eagerly.

"Hack or no hack," said Agil, "demon or no demon, this is still a dungeon and all dungeons can be beaten."

"Then let's go," said Kairi as she gave a slight but confident smile, "and if we run into DiDe again, we'll send her back to hell!"

"That's the spirit!" said Mercedes eagerly.

With that our heroes crossed the foyer and through the door at the other end. They found themselves in a dilapidated hallway made of concrete with rusting and dripping pipes overhead that gurgled with air bubbles. Above the pipes were flickering florescent lights that randomly cast the hallway into brief periods of darkness. The walls and floor were stained with rust and mold, while the whole area had an unpleasant musky odor about it.

"This definitely wasn't in the original Haunted Mansion," said Xenophon as our heroes cautiously made their way through the passage, "in both Disney World and Disneyland."

"This is DiDe's work, I gather," said Beatrice as she found a dirt and rust-stained window on one side of the hallway wall.

"Is it that obvious?" Lisbeth asked as Klien, Agil and Felix tried to break the window with their weapons, yet all they accomplished was to crack the glass, which repaired itself before further damage could occur.

"Now we know for sure we can't get out," said Kirito as Klien, Agil and Felix backed away from the window.

"If only there was some way," said Xenophon, "some way for one of us to logout and contact the authorities in the real world." He brought up his menu and tried to logout, only to be met by the same red warning window.

"The option is still there," said Kirito, "not like back in SAO where there was no Logout option at all."

"It's merely disabled," said Beatrice as she examined her menu, "somehow DiDe is able to block the programming for the logout sequence, the question is how?"

"Let me try something about that," said Yui as she smiled confidently.

"Hon, you may be an incredibly talented and special A.I.," said Beatrice, "but I doubt you're up to taking on a demonic program like DiDe."

At that Yui irately shifted to her human form and looked at Beatrice in the eye, "just because I look and behave like a child, just because I can take the form of a navigation pixy, doesn't make me any less capable of an A.I. If I say I can try to help, I certainly can try, and I will! So there!" at that she stuck her tongue out at Beatrice, shifted back to her pixy form and flew onto Kirito's shoulder.

"Okay, what just happened?" Beatrice asked, "did I say anything wrong?"

"Let me guess, you're an only child and didn't have many friends in school," said Xenophon.

"I did have friends!" said an irate Beatrice, "and I still do! I just don't see them that much, that's all."

"They're only social media friends, right?" asked Felix, "Facebook, Twitter and other gamers, right?"

"So what?!" snapped Beatrice, "I was too busy at school and now at work to socialize in the real world! That doesn't make me any less of a person!"

"Hey, take it easy," said Asuna.

"It's all my mother's fault!" snapped Beatrice, "she was always pressing me to achieve higher marks, to get extra credit and do whatever it took to get into her alma mater, Miskatonic University. I had to uphold the family tradition and carry on when she was gone as…"

"Shush!" said Kairi.

"Don't you shush me!" spat Beatrice, "if I want to rant and rave, it's my god-given right to do so!"

"SHUSH!" snapped Kairi, "just shut up and listen!"

Beatrice was about to shout at Kairi again, when Kirito held up his hand for her to be quiet, "everyone, be quiet!"

Our heroes remained silent for several seconds until they heard what sound like someone shouting.

"It's coming from over there!" said Asuna as she pointed down the hallway. With that she and the others hurried on. As they ran, they heard the shouting growing louder and clearer.

"HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"I think I know that voice!" said Kairi as they approached a single door in the hallway. She tried the door but was outraged to find it locked.

"I knew we should have brought along a Thief," said Xenophon as Mercedes, Lisbeth and Silica examined the door and lock, "one of my party members on Forgotten Realms Online, he could pick a lock in a heartbeat."

"Let me try," said Kirito as he knelt in front of the door and examined the lock, "Spriggans are the best treasure hunters in ALO, and one aspect of treasure hunting is lock picking." He then pulled out a set of picks and began working on the lock, only to have the picks break off in the lock within seconds. "Oops."

"You'd be better off trying to pick that lock with a live eel," said Mercedes.

"Hey, I haven't had much chance to work on my Lock Picking skill," said Kirito as he stood up.

Just then everyone heard the voice shout again.

"SOMEONE! HELP ME! PLEASE!"

"Now I know that voice!" said Kairi, "Joshua, one of the survivors of Rapture!" she then summoned her Keyblade, "out of my way!" she shouted as she aimed her Keyblade at the door.

Kirito, Lisbeth, Silica and Mercedes barely got out of the way as Kairi shot a beam of magic at the lock. Yet instead of simply unlocking the door, she blasted it off its hinges.

"Damn, girl," said an impressed and slightly intimidated Albion, "you've got skills."

Kairi didn't answer as she ran into the pitch black room that lay beyond the unhinged door. Kirito and the others ran after her, only to all find themselves in a room so dark they couldn't even see the hall outside the doorway.

Just then a spotlight came on overhead, revealing DiDe in front of our heroes and allies.

"Ah, you've made it to the first round of the game," said DiDe as she smiled eagerly, "outstanding."

"Cut the crap, DiDe!" said Kairi, "where's Joshua!"

"Closer than you might think," said DiDe.

It was then that more lights came on, revealing the room to be in the same dilapidated state as the hallway rust and water stains everywhere, while rusting objects lay strewn about here and there.

Yet what drew everyone's attention was the large table in the middle of the room where, clamped to the table and with his head between a hydraulic vise that was held apart by over two feet, lay Joshua.

"Joshua!" exclaimed Kairi.

"Kairi?!" exclaimed a terrified Joshua, "what the fuck's going on!? What is this!?"

"This is your life on the line, boyo!" said DiDe eagerly. She then glared at Kairi, "oh, and before you try to free him with that Keyblade of yours, I've rigged the table to electrocute him. Don't believe me?"

As if a switch had been thrown, the sound of electricity flowing could be heard, at which Joshua began convulsing against the clamps restraining him. The episode lasted only three seconds, but it was enough to leave him limp and gasping for breath on the table.

"That was just a low-level shock," said DiDe, "about the same voltage in a police stun gun. However, if I were to crank up the amperage and leave the current on for fifteen seconds or so, it'd be more than enough to stop his heart."

"While in the real world his mind would be so traumatized, he'd have a heart attack," said Xenophon.

"Check out the brain on you," said an impressed DiDe, "you're one smart wizard. But it won't help the kid on the table. Only Kairi can."

It was then that a device appeared on the other side of the room, a device that was basically a hydraulic press, one used to shape metals. The device was connected via cables to the vise on the table.

"If you want to save your friend, Kairi, you have to play a penalty game," said DiDe, "and answer a question, 'how much will you sacrifice to save someone you care about?'"

"I'd give my right eye to save a friend!" said Kairi.

"I don't want your eye," said DiDe, "not yet anyway. No, this round, all I ask for is your right hand, or his head."

At that the vise began closing, earning a cry of terror from Joshua as the hydraulic clamps touched his head, then stopped, trapping his head between them.

"You crazy bitch!" snapped Albion as he drew his knives, "let him go!"

"Touch me and he dies instantly," said DiDe as she raised an admonishing finger at Albion, "try to rescue him and he dies, that goes for all of you. Only Kairi can save him."

DiDe then looked at Kairi as a digital clock with 5:00 on it appeared above our heroes, "you have that long to decide which you value the most; your hand or your friend's head. Be advised that for every thirty seconds you delay, the pressure applied to the vise will increase. It takes approximately 15 PSI to crush a human skull, but I'd wager he'd be dead long before his head was rendered into a bloody, brainy mush."

"But what do you want Kairi to do?" Asuna asked.

"Haven't I made it clear yet?" DiDe asked, "she's to place her hand in the press over there and crush it. You see that big red button on the machine, Kairi? You can easily use it with your left hand while you sacrifice your right."

"No way in hell is Kairi doing that!" snapped Leafa.

"Damn right she's not!" said Joshua, "Kairi helped saved me, Chrissie and the others from Rapture! She saved over a dozen Little Sisters and Dr. Tenenbaum! No way am I letting her crush her hand for my sake!"

"Wow, that's really brave of you, kido," said DiDe, "you'd rather die than let someone else suffer in your place, how noble," she then frowned irately, "how pathetic!"

At that the clock began counting town.

"You've got five minutes to make your choice, Kairi!" said DiDe, "your hand or his head! What's it gonna be, Kairi!? Well?! What's it gonna be!?" she then vanished, laughing like the demonic mastermind she was.

"Kairi, don't do it!" said Kirito, "we'll figure something out!"

"There's got to be a way to get him free," said Asuna as she, Beatrice, Xenophon, Albion, Lisbeth and Klien walked closer to the table, "some way to get Joshua out. Nice to meet you, by the way."

"Nice to meet you too," said Joshua, "and please hurry. Not that I'm not afraid of being crushed, it's just…

It was then that the first thirty seconds ran out and the pressure on the vise increased just enough to earn a yelp of pain from Joshua.

"NO!" shouted Kairi as she ran for the press, only to be grabbed by Agil and Felix. "Let me go!" she shouted as she struggled to get free, "I have to save him!"

"And lose your hand in the process? I don't think so!" said Agil.

"There's got to be another way," said Asuna.

"I'll bet that demon bitch hid a key somewhere," said Trillian as she searched the room, "or a switch or button to press."

"I don't mean to sound like a jerk and all," said Joshua, "but could you please hurry up before my head's cracked like a fucking turtle egg?" he then screamed in pain and terror as the vise pressed even more on his head.

"Let me go!" shouted Kairi at Agil and Felix, "what's a hand compared to losing a friend? I've got one to spare, so let me go!"

"Not until we exhaust all available options!" said Felix.

"What if we try blocking the vise?" Silica asked, "we could jam it! Or better yet, cut the hydraulics line!"

"Or just cut him loose!" said Albion as he equipped a serrated dagger from his inventory, and then began sawing through the restraint on Joshua's left arm.

But then the current connected again and Joshua was subjected to another five seconds of intense electricity, before gasping with relief and exhaustion.

"Don't do that!" snapped Lisbeth as she roughly pushed Albion away, earning a red window warning against rough contact outside of battle. She ignored it as she searched the bottom of the table, "just help me find the wires for the shock treatment!"

It was then that the vise pressed even more, earning another cry of agony from Joshua.

"Just hang on, man!" said Klien as he joined in on the table search, "we'll get you out!"

"Please hurry," moaned Joshua, "any more and my eyes are gonna pop!"

"I can't stand it anymore!" exclaimed Kairi. Summoning an incredible amount of strength, she broke free of Agil and Felix. Before either of them could stop her, Kairi ran to the hydraulic press, placed her right hand in it and pressed the button with her left.

She looked away and closed her eyes as the upper part of the press came down, yet as hard as she tried to endure the pain, Kairi was forced to scream in agony as her hand was crushed.

Yet as Kairi vented her pain, Joshua sighed with relief as the vise released his head, while the straps on his arms and legs broke open on their own.

"You did it, Kairi," said Asuna in a soothing tone as she rushed over to her, "Joshua's free."

"Good," sobbed Kairi as tears of pain fell from her eyes. She slumped against the press, her arm still trapped by the machine.

"Someone help me get her out of this thing!" shouted Asuna.

"Here!" said Beatrice as she found a second button on the machine and pressed it, causing the upper part of the machine to rise up. Kairi gasped in pain and relief as she was released and fell to the floor, her hand a bloody, mangled mass that she barely had the stomach to look at.

"Lisbeth, Silica, take her," said Asuna, "Leafa!"

"Right," said Leafa as Silica and Lisbeth knelt down beside Kairi. Asuna stood up and together with Leafa, chanted a double healing spell. Kairi's hand glowed as the spell took effect.

"Is it working?" Trillian asked.

"I think so," said Lisbeth as the spell ended. She and Silica helped Kairi stand up and everyone looked at Kairi's hand. At first the hand looked healed, but closer inspection revealed heavy bruising, while the hand also had a significant tremble.

"It's only partly healed," said Leafa in a downcast tone.

"At least it's whole," said Asuna, "I'd say the bones and everything else that makes up a hand looks like they're all where they should be."

"But it's shaking," said Silica, "and Kairi, you look like it still hurts."

"It does," said Kairi as she tried to move her fingers, wincing as she could only make them bend a fraction of an inch.

At that everyone heard DiDe laughing as the demonic A.I. appeared before them, "well done, Kairi, well done indeed. You've won the first round and saved one of your friends, well done."

"You're gonna die, cyber demon!" shouted Felix as he hefted his javelin and threw it at DiDe. Yet the creature merely raised her hand and caused the javelin to vanish before it hit her.

"Your weapons are practically useless against me," said DiDe, "so don't even bother. Oh, I forgot to mention in the rules; any attempt to heal Kairi's wounds will only be partly successful, just enough to keep her alive and functioning. It'd be a shame to let her die and end the game too soon."

"You vicious cunt!" snapped Joshua, "eat Plasmids, you fucking, bottom feeding whore!" he then aimed his left hand at DiDe and sent out a Sonic Boom blast that nearly knocked the creature over.

Joshua then used Telekinesis to levitate the table and vise to into the air and threw it at her. DiDe barely dodged the table, vanishing as the table and vise continued onto in the air and shattered into crystal polygons when it hit the wall.

"My creators did warn me that you and yours had special abilities," said DiDe after rematerializing in front of our heroes, "though they neglected just how powerful you are. Nevertheless, this is still my house and I have the advantage."

"Wanna test that advantage?" Joshua asked as flames licked his hand yet didn't burn him, "I may not be able to change Plasmids and Gene Tonics anymore, but I'm sure what I've got is enough."

"Another time perhaps," said DiDe, "I've got to set up the next round of the game," she then looked at Kairi, "you think crushing your hand was unbearable? Just you wait! I'll have you begging for death before the game is over!"

"I'll never beg!" snapped Kairi as Asuna and Leafa used some clean cloth and small pieces of wood to splint and bandage her right hand, "you hear me!? NEVER!"

"We shall see," said DiDe as she smiled maliciously, "we shall see." With that she vanished again.

"I really don't like her," said Mercedes irately.

"You're not alone," said Joshua.

"You okay?" Kairi asked as Leafa and Asuna finished bandaging her hand.

"Aside from a headache the size of a humpback whale," said Joshua, "and being trapped in this nightmare of a place, tortured by a woman straight from hell and surrounded by…by…" he then counted Kirito, Asuna and the others, "by thirteen really, really strange people, most of whom look as if they belong in a Tolken novel, I'm doing pretty well, how about you?"

"I've been better," said Kairi as she raised her bandaged hand, "but I'll be alright. Let's go find Chrissie and the others."

"That may be more difficult than you think," said Asuna, "you can't use your right hand to fight."

"What about your left?" Kirito asked, "can you summon your Keyblade with your left hand?"

At that Kairi held out her left hand and, after a few seconds of concentration, grasped her Keyblade as it flashed into existence. She gave a few experimental swings, finding her grip awkward and her movements clumsy.

"Barely," said Kairi as she vanished her Keyblade.

"That's alright, we'll fight for you," said Trillian as she smiled confidently.

"Uh…could someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Joshua asked, "seriously, I'd be eternally grateful if I could get even a partial explanation."

"I'd say you've earned more than that," said Kirito, "Kairi said that you and your friends are from another reality. Well, first of all, what year is it where you're from?"

"1960 A.D.," said Joshua, "why? What year is it in this world?"

"2025 A.D.," said Xenophon, "and this world," he then indicated the virtual environment, "isn't exactly our world. It's real and yet not real."

"What…is this a dream?" Joshua asked. He then laughed, "of course, it's a dream! It all makes sense now! It's a dream! Just a dream! Now all I've got to do is wake up!" he then slapped himself across the face, then again, "just got to wake up!" he slapped himself again.

"Joshua, stop that!" said Kairi as he kept slapping himself.

"Why should I? It's not like I'm hurting myself!" exclaimed Joshua, "it's not real! It's just a dream!" he slapped himself again, "it's just a dream! Just a dream!"

"This is no dream, man!" exclaimed Klien as he and Albion grabbed Joshua, "this is as close to reality as you can get without it really being real!"

"I…I…" said Joshua, "I…" he then went limp against Klien and Albion's grip, shivering as if experiencing extreme cold.

"What's wrong?!" Leafa asked.

"I…I'll be alright," said Joshua as Klien and Albion helped him sit down, "I just need," he felt his pockets, "where…where is it!? WHERE IS IT!?"

"Where's what?" asked Silica.

"My EVE!" shouted Joshua as he abruptly stood up, shoving Klien and Albion away with enough force to knock them down, "what happened to my EVE!?"

"You used your last dose back in Rapture," said Kairi.

At that Joshua looked as if he had been slapped in the face by a brick inside a sack. "Oh," he said in a deflated tone. He then franticly looked around, "Chrissie and the others, they still have some! We've got to find them!"

"We will find them!" said Kirito sternly, "but not if you're constantly freaking out!"

"I'm not freaking out," said Joshua in a calm yet strained tone, "you haven't seen me freak out yet. I've only just begun to feel the effects of ADAM withdraw. Just wait until I'm blabbering like a lunatic and start trying to kill you all. Then I'll be freaking out."

"Even if we find Chrissie and the others, they may not be able to help you," said Asuna.

"You may be right," said Kairi, "Joshua, I don't know how to explain this so you'll understand, but…in a way, this is…sort of a dream. Your mind has been connected to an…an artificial dream of sorts, one where other people can freely interact with. Your body, as well as the bodies of Chrissie and the others, they're still in the real world."

"No doubt held captive by the same assholes who trapped Kairi in the flesh in the game…I mean, in the artificial dream," said Trillian.

"An artificial dream that can be played like a game…I think I get it," said Joshua, "so what?"

"So, if your mind is here, as well as the minds of Chrissie and the others," said Kairi, "then none of you will have any of the EVE syringes on you."

"I'll bet DiDe's creators have them wherever they've got the bodies," said Mercedes.

"Well, if it's a dream yet not a dream," said Joshua, "still, how do I wake up?"

"By defeating DiDe and those who created her," said Kirito, "which would be easier if it weren't for the logout block. If only I could logout long enough to make a phone call. I know someone who may be able to help find the ones responsible."

"I think you can, papa," said Yui, "I think I've found out how DiDe's overridden the logout option."

"Can you undo it, Yui-chan?" Asuna asked.

"I think so," said Yui, "but if I do it, then DiDe's creators will know I've done it and they'll change the blocking software. If they do, I doubt I'll be able to unblock the logout again."

"What about logging back in?" Kirito asked, "will I still be able to do that?"

"Again, I think so," said Yui, "at least until they change the blocking software. I may be able to keep them from doing so for a while, so if you do go, papa, you'll have to hurry and get back in."

"What about a teleport crystal?" Silica asked, "one of us could teleport out and call for reinforcements."

"I'll do it," said Leafa, "there are at least three of the nine faerie races who would be willing to come and help."

"Alright, that's what we'll do," said Kirito, "Leafa, you teleport back to Yggdrasil City and gather as many Sylphs, Cait Siths and Slamanders as you can contact, while I make a call for help in the real world."

"You got it, _Onisan_ ," said Leafa eagerly.

"I just need a moment," said Yui as she closed her eyes in concentration, "just need to isolate the blocking code and…there!" she opened her eyes, "Logout and Teleport Block Removed!"

Kirito then brought up his menu and selected the logout option, "I'll be back soon!" he said, "hold the line for me!"

"Will do!" said Asuna, "and good luck!"

"Thanks," said Kirito as he gave his in-game wife a reassuring smile, before pressing the logout button. He then slumped and his eyes closed.

"Did he logout?" Kairi asked.

"Papa's mind is back with his body," said Yui, "but his avatar is in sleep mode. If anything were to happen to it…"

"It could be killed," said Asuna, "or, since this is Hell House, corrupted by the virus, or worse, deleted."

"You mean Kirito would have to start all over again with a new avatar and character?" Silica asked.

"Not if we can help it," said Asuna sternly, "we'll keep watch over it until he gets back!"

Just then DiDe appeared in the room, looking like she was ready to tear our heroes apart on general principal. "What in the nine circles of damnation is going on here!? I said no logging out!"

"Your rules don't apply anymore, DiDe," said Kairi smugly, "not only can we logout whenever we please, we can also teleport."

"You can't do that!" snapped DiDe.

"Yes we can," said Leafa as she held up a teleport crystal, "Teleport: Yggdrasil City!" she then vanished in a flash of light.

"WHAT! NO!" raged DiDe, "you can't do that! It's against the rules! Against my rules! _My_ house! _My_ rules!"

"Looks like your rules don't have much to back them up," said Mercedes, "and your house should be condemned."

"You human filth!" snapped DiDe, "you gamer scum! I'll tear into you so bad, your real world bodies will bleed!" she then glared at Kirito's idle avatar, "but first I've got to send that waste of data to the recycling bin!"

"You want to hurt Kirito-kun?" asked Asuna daringly as she drew her rapier and stood in front of Kirito's body, "you'll have to go through the rest of us!"

"Damn right!" said Kairi as she summoned her Keyblade, while the others readied their weapons.

"Your weapons are useless against me," said DiDe as her nails sharpened and elongated into claws.

"We'll still fight," said Kairi as she summoned her Keyblade with her left hand, "as best as we can."

"So come and get us, bitch," said Trillian.

"Alright," said DiDe as she smiled wickedly, "I will." She then stood there for several seconds before frowning with concern.

"What's the matter?" Klien taunted, "aren't you gonna fight us?"

"Just hold your sphincter, human!" snapped DiDe, "I'm…oh no! NO!"

"What?" Kairi asked.

"I'm not programmed for this," said an outraged DiDe as she began to hyperventilate with wrath, "I can defend myself, but I was never programmed for actual combat! Those real world idiots never programmed me for combat! Stupid turbo nerds! I'll get those dateless wonders!" with that she vanished.

"That was weird," said Albion.

"To say the least," said Kairi. She then looked at Joshua, "looks like we've got some time before the action picks up again."

"Yeah," said Joshua, "now, could someone please explain my situation? About this dream that's not a dream? And don't try to dumb it down for me. I may be going through ADAM withdraw, but I'm no idiot."

"We never took you for one," said Xenophon, "now, where to start? Let's see…what do you know about computers?"

"Not much," said Joshua, "they're big and use these big spools of magnetic tape, that's about all I know. Oh, and they use vacuum tubes. Do they still use vacuum tubes in the 21st Century?"

"This is gonna take a while," sighed Xenophon.

* * *

 **…The Real World…**

"How could we not program DiDe for actual combat?!" exclaimed Dr. Remington.

"We would have if someone hadn't decided to activate her early!" snapped Dr. Winchester as he glared at Dr. Weatherby.

"Don't you dare blame me for this mishap!" snapped Dr. Weatherby, "we're all equally at fault for not taking into account those gamers figuring out how to logout!"

"Then we had best figure out how to keep them from doing it again!" said Dr. Remington, "and to finish DiDe's combat software, before she gets overly emotional."

"Her emotion protocols are…unstable at best," said Dr. Winchester, "again, another aspect of her rushed activation."

"We'll send her to a digital psychiatrist when this is over," said Dr. Weatherby, "now help me finish DiDe's combat software!"

But then one of the technicians walked up to and whispered into Dr. Remington's ear. "He's one his way back? Now?" he asked, at which the technician nodded.

"So, that idiot is finally coming back," said Dr. Winchester irately, "about time if you ask me."

"I can only imagine how he'll react when he sees who's with Kairi in Hell House," said Dr. Weatherby, "he'll either go berserk or have a heart attack."

"Then let's finish this before he does," said Dr. Remington, "Columbina did order us to torment Kairi, but she never specified for how long."

"We may have time yet," said Dr. Winchester, "at this rate, it'll take at least an hour to fully program DiDe for combat."

"I don't think we can wait that long," said Dr. Weatherby, "and DiDe's getting impatient as it is." He then smiled with insidious glee, "Oh…wait…wait just a moment, fellow practitioners of dark science! I have an idea."

"What kind of idea?" Dr. Remington asked cautiously.

"We may have neglected to program DiDe for combat," said Dr. Weatherby, "but we did program to make others fight for her."

"Why…yes we did, Dr. Weatherby," said a viciously grinning Dr. Winchester, "yes we did."

* * *

 **…Kiriyaga Residence…**

"Come on, answer," said Kazuto as he stood next to his bed with his cell phone at his ear. It took him but a moment to find the card given to him by Samantha and bare few seconds to dial her hotel number. The receptionist at the front desk said that Samantha was out and didn't know when she'd be back. Kazuto gave the receptionist the message that he called and asked that Samantha call back as soon as possible.

Kazuto then tried Samantha's cell number.

"Answer!" said Kazuto as the phone rang, "damn it, answer!"

 _"Hello?"_ a voice asked in English on the other end.

"Dr. Armitage?" Kazuto asked in a startled tone, "is that…"

 _"You've reached the office of Dr. Samantha Armitage at the Miskatonic University Library. I'm unable to take your call at this time, so please leave your name, telephone number and email address, and I'll get back with you as soon as I can. Thank you."_

Kazuto then heard the customary beep, then disconnected the call.

"She gave me her work number," said Kazuto as he looked at the card with dejected eyes, then slumped onto his bed. He looked at his Nerve Gear and was about to put it back on, when his phone rang, the caller ID stating an unknown caller.

"Hello?" He asked as he put the phone to his hear.

"Ah, young Kazuto!" said Samantha on the other end of the call, "I'm so sorry about earlier, I gave you and Asuna my work number by mistake. Here's my cell number…"

"That's okay, Dr. Armitage!" said Kazuto urgently, "this may not be appropriate, but Asuna and I, we need your help."

"Help with what?" Samantha asked in a concerned tone, "Are you alright? Are either of you in trouble?"

"Sort of," said Kazuto, "you told Asuna and me that The Night Scholars kept the world safe from the weird and bizarre, right?"

"Not exactly in those words," said Samantha, "but yes, that is generally the mission of The Night Scholars. Why? Have you and Asuna stumbled onto something weird and bizarre that could threaten the world?"

"Not the world, not yet," said Kazuto, "unless you count a mysterious group of scientists who not only have the means to digitize living people and upload them into cyberspace, hack into one of the most unhackable game systems in the world, copy human minds for experimentation and hold others against their will via Nerve Gear. Oh, there's also a demon-themed A.I. that wants to destroy a friend of mine."

There was about ten seconds of silence on the other end of the call before Samantha spoke in an intrigued yet serious tone, "start from the beginning, Kazuto, and leave no detail untouched."

* * *

 **…Hell House…**

"And that's how the Full Dive system works," said Beatrice as she, Xenophon and Asuna finished explaining things to Joshua.

"So, while my body is back in the real world," said Joshua, "and I can't move there at all, I'm practically helpless. But in this world I can do anything I want? In this…this virtual environment?"

"Within reason," said Xenophon.

"And if someone were to take the helmet off," said Joshua, "the Nerve Gear, it'll cook my brain?"

"The only way to get you back to your body is to defeat whatever circumstances those scientists have set," said Agil.

"We got out of SAO when Kirito beat Kayaba," said Agil, "maybe beating DiDe will let you and the others out."

"We can only hope," said Kairi.

"Hope's something you're running you of, Kairi," said DiDe as she reappeared.

"You again!" snapped Mercedes, "back to make an even bigger ass of yourself?"

"I admit that our last encounter ended in a mishap," said DiDe, "one that my creators will soon correct. In the meantime," she then smiled viciously, "I have a few new friends I'd like you to play with!"

At that several Neo Shadows, Nova Shadows and Invisibles appeared in the room, all of which had what appeared to be patches of red lines in grid-like patters across their forms.

"These enhanced Pureblood Heartless will tie you over until my creators finish upgrading my software," said DiDe. She then pointed at our heroes and shouted at the creatures, "Destroy them!"

At that the enhanced Pureblood Heartless rushed at out heroes.

"Kirito-kun, hurry back, please!" said Asuna as she and the others hastily drew their weapons and fought back against the creatures.

* * *

… **Radiant Garden…**

"There has to be a way of getting on top of the enemy," said Leon as he, Quistis, King Mickey and Ansem stood in one of the castle rooms that had been hastly converted into a war room. For now all that was in the room was a table with a built-in hologram projector, which now displayed the many worlds of The Realms of Light and their respective orbital paths, while the images for Agrabah, Twilight Town and The Land of Dragons were replaced by spheres of black.

"Columbina and Darklight must have a strategy on which worlds they're attacking," said Leon as he looked at the holographic map.

"As far as I can tell it's completely random," said Quistis.

"What, are they just picking worlds out of a hat or something?" Leon asked.

"I'd say it's more like throwing darts at a board," said Ansem.

"It doesn't matter how they're choosing which worlds to attack," said King Mickey, "we've got to stop them before they smash open another Keyhole."

"We have to find them before they do so," said Quistis, "and we can't until they attack a world. Already we've got SeeD teams in place across The Realms of Light. They'll signal us the second anything out of the ordinary happens. It's just a question of getting reinforcements to that world before it's too late."

Just then Yvette ran into the room, "We just heard from Team Tau-39! Wonderland's under attack!"

"You wanted a chance to get there before it's too late," said Leon to Quistis, "now's your chance."

* * *

… **Wonderland…Bizarre Room…**

"Pathetic," said a disgusted Columbina as she walked over the corpse of a SeeD operative. Two other dead operatives lay strewn about the floor as she crossed to the other side, where Lady Darklight was examining the snoring Doorknob.

"One would think that the legendary SeeD would send agents who would put up a proper fight," said Columbina. She then looked at Lady Darklight, "then again, you are far superior to any of those mercenary scum, my dear."

"They were in my way," said Darklight in a distant tone as she bent down to look at the Doorknob closer.

"Could we hurry this up a bit?" Dio Brando asked as he lounged about on the couch, while Regina and Lady Tremaine sat at the table, waiting for a pot of tea to finish brewing. "I'm getting bored here!"

"And it's a bit crowded in this room," said Gaston as he leaned against the bookcase.

"The Keyhole is right there," said Lady Tremaine as she glared at Darklight and the Doorknob, "so smash it so we can leave this wretched little world."

"She will smash it when she is good and ready!" said Columbina irately, she then looked at Darklight, "aren't you ready yet?"

"It's not here," said Darklight as she stood up.

"What nonsense is this?!" snapped Columbina, "of course the Keyhole is here! Right where Sora locked it many moons ago!"

"Well, it's not here now," said Darklight.

"Okay, that's weird," said Dio Brando as he stood up, "Keyholes don't just up and disappear."

"Indeed they don't," said Regina as she stood up, "so what happened to it?"

"That's what I'm going to find out," said Darklight as she walked over to the table, picked up the bottle with the shrinking potion and swallowed it, shrinking down to an inch in height, then ran across the room back to the Doorknob.

"Impatient girl," said a Columbina in a disapproving yet proud tone, "how eager she is to drown this world in darkness."

"She could have at least included us in her plan," said Lady Tremaine as she examined the potion bottle, holding it upside down and nothing came out, "she took it all."

"There are other ways to reduce a person in size," said Regina. She then cast a spell.

"Now wait just a damn minute!" snapped Gaston as he, Dio Brando, Regina, Lady Tremaine and Columbina were shrunk.

"Well, that's that then," said Columbina, "low let's find out about that Keyhole."

"I never volunteered for this!" snapped Gaston.

"Well, you're in it now," said Dio Brando, "or rather, down." He then laughed at his own pun.

"Whatever," said Regina, "let's just go."

They then walked over to the Doorknob, where Lady Darklight was irately questioning the living, drowsy object.

"Wake up, you hunk of scrap!" snapped Darklight, "I've got questions and you'll answer them, whether you like it or not!"

The Doorknob yawned and opened his eyes slightly, "I told you…already," mumbled the Doorknob, "I'm not the Keyhole anymore."

"I know that, you recycled reject!" spat Darklight, "but where is it!? How'd it move and who moved it?!"

"Not who…more like…zzzzz…more like a what," muttered The Doorknob, he then closed his eyes and started snoring again.

"Okay then, what moved it?" Columbina asked.

"Answer me before I take this and beat it out of you!" snapped Darklight as she summoned her black Keyblade.

"You'd better talk, little guy," said Dio Brando, "she means business."

"The…the Cheshire Cat," said the Doorknob as he fell asleep again.

"The Cheshire Cat," said Columbina, "well, then, let's go see this cat about a Keyhole."

"And if he won't talk, we'll find out just how many ways we can skin a cat," said Gaston.

"I beg your pardon!" snapped Lady Tremaine, "you shall not harm one whisker on this cat!"

"Oh really?" asked Gaston, "why not?"

"Because I am in need of a new cat," said Lady Tremaine, "there's been a hollow feeling within my heart ever since my dear Lucifer passed away."

"And you want to keep the Cheshire Cat for yourself?" Regina asked, "that…may not work out."

"Why not?" Lady Tremaine asked, "a cat is a cat."

"Not this cat," said Regina.

"We shall see," said Lady Tremaine.

The assembled villains passed through the opening near the Doorknob and found themselves at the Queen's Castle, where The Queen of Hearts and over a hundred Card Soldiers waited, while next to The Queen of Hearts stood timidly the White Rabbit.

"Well, well, well," said The Queen of Hearts as she glared at Columbina and the other villains, "what have we here? Intruders after my heart."

"Uh…your majesty?" said The White Rabbit, "that's not why they're here. Those SeeD operatives…"

"They're here after my heart because I say they're here after my heart!" snapped The Queen of Hearts, "and after my super secret tart recipe."

"What?" asked Darklight, "what are you talking about? I don't want your heart, and I certainly don't want your tart recipe!"

"Of course you're after my recipe and heart," said The Queen of Hearts smugly, "why else would you come to Wonderland?"

"Lady, we don't have time for this," said Dio Brando, "THE WORLD!"

Reality changed color like a photo negative for an instant and everything save for Dio Brando froze.

"Time has been stopped," said the vile Stand User as he drew out dozens of knives and threw them at the Card Soldiers, the knives freezing in place just before they hit the helpless minions.

"All too easy," said Dio Brando. He then released time, causing the Card Soldiers to cry out in agony as the knives hit them, felling them like the decks of playing cards they were.

"So much for your army," said Columbina as she looked at The Queen of Hearts, "now, where is The Cheshire Cat?"

At that The Queen of Hearts fainted.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed the White Rabbit as he ran up to the unconscious Queen of Hearts and began fanning her with a handkerchief.

"This is asinine," said an impatient Gaston.

"I agree," said Lady Tremaine. She then grabbed The White Rabbit by the ears and lifted him up, earning a yelp from him. Tremaine then tossed the White Rabbit by the ears to Darklight, whom caught him by the ears

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," said Darklight as she glared at The White Rabbit, who struggled to break free yet her grip was too tight.

"What do you want from me?!" wailed the White Rabbit.

"I want you to tell me where the damn Cheshire Cat is! That's what!" yelled Darklight.

"Well, if I'm in such demand, then I had better make an appearance, now would I?"

Right there, hovering in front of Darklight, as if leaning against a wall, was the Cheshire Cat, grinning his usual grin.

"You sure you want _that_ for a pet?" asked Gaston to Lady Tremaine as he pointed at the Cheshire Cat.

"On second thought, not," said Lady Tremaine as she looked at the creature with disturbed eyes.

"We'll take you to a pet shop if you so desire later," said Regina.

"So, we meet at last," said Darklight as she dropped the White Rabbit, whom landed in a heap on the ground.

"Run away!" shouted the White Rabbit, "run away!" with that he dashed out of the area.

"Poor White Rabbit," said the Cheshire Cat, "always rushing somewhere." He then looked at Darklight as he slid to the ground on a pole that wasn't there, "now, you were saying?"

"I said we meet at last," said Darklight, "now, you're going to tell me what I want to know?"

"Want to know what?" asked the Cheshire Cat as he sat on his front paws with his hind paws in the air.

"Where the Keyhole is!" said Darklight.

"Alright, where is the Keyhole?" asked the Cheshire Cat.

"That's what I want to know, damnit!" snapped Darklight.

"We're not in the mood for your nonsense games, you feline fop!" snapped Columbina, "tell us where you relocated the Keyhole and we'll let you keep a few of your nine lives!"

"What makes you think I moved the Keyhole?" asked the Cheshire Cat, "if it's anywhere, try that narcoleptic Doorknob."

"We did and he pointed us towards you," said Darklight in an impatient tone.

"And here I thought he didn't have hands," said the Cheshire Cat. He then vanished, then appeared atop Gaston's head, "oh, by the way, I did move it."

"Get off my head, you dust rag!" snapped Gaston as he grabbed at the Cheshire Cat, only for his hands to grasp empty air.

"Since you're so interested in the Keyhole, I'll tell you where it is," said The Cheshire Cat as he appeared with his head upside down in front of Darklight.

"I…you will?" a surprised Darklight asked.

"Of course," said the Cheshire Cat, "though, you may not like what you'll find."

"We'll deal with that when the time comes," said Columbina, "now where is the blasted Keyhole?!"

"It's right through there," said the Cheshire cat as he pointed with his tail towards the Lotus Forest, "once you're in, you walk ten paces this way," he pointed left with his right paw while looking left, "then fifteen paces that way," he pointed right with his left paw while looking down, "and then five paces this a way," he then pointed with eight hands in different directions.

"Uh…thanks, I guess," said a confused Dio Brando.

"My pleasure," said the Cheshire Cat as he waved his tail over himself, vanishing in the process.

"Just a moment!" called Regina.

"Yes?" the Cheshire Cat asked as he waved his tail the other way, bringing his vanished parts back.

"I assume you know what we want with the Keyhole," said Regina, "but why…?"

"Why would I help you?" the Cheshire Cat asked, "why wouldn't I? Life is one big surprise after another, and I'm just full of them!" he then vanished, leaving only his laughing grin behind for a few seconds before that too vanished.

"What a strange creature," said Lady Tremaine.

"This whole world is strange," said Columbina, "the cosmos will be better off without it. Now let's smash that Keyhole."

With that the villains entered the Lotus Forest, where, surrounded by large trees, flowers, mushrooms and other plants, found themselves lost within minutes.

"What is with this world!?" exclaimed Gaston, "We're lost!"

"You're not lost," said Yuffie as she leaned against a branch overhead, "you're in Wonderland!"

"What the hell are you doing up there!?" snapped Darklight.

"Looking down at a bunch of losers," said Yuffie. She then gracefully flipped off of the branch and landed lightly on the ground.

"Impressive," said Columbina dryly, "but foolish. If you wish to impede our purpose here, then…"

"Impede? What does that mean?" asked Yuffie.

"It means you intend to stand in our way," said Regina.

"Oh, well why didn't you say so?" Yuffie asked as she walked in front of Darklight, "yeah, I'm aiming to stand in your way."

"Then get the hell out of it before I slice you in half," said Darklight as she summoned her black Keyblade.

"Whoa, now that's what I call a badass Keyblade," said an impressed Yuffie.

"Do all ninjas have a death wish?" Columbina asked, "stand aside, child, if you wish to remain among the living any longer!"

"Sorry, no can do," said Yuffie, "you guys want to smash open this world's Keyhole, so I'm here to stop you."

"You do have a death wish!" laughed Dio Brando, "I don't know which is sadder, your bravery or stupidity."

"What do you hope to accomplish alone, child?" Columbina, "do you truly believe you can deter our purpose all by yourself?"

"Lady, I could slap you all silly with one hand tied behind my back," said Yuffie, "as for stopping you by myself, that's a whole other kettle of fish. Which is why I didn't come here alone."

Just then King Mickey jumped out from hiding, his gold Keyblade flashing into existence, as he leapt at Darklight. The dark Princess got her black Keyblade up in time to block The King's attack and the two of them began a furious duel.

"Ha! What a pathetic display of defiance!" said Columbina as she and the others watched the battle between Darklight and The King, "not even Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders could stand against the might of a Princess of Dark!"

"They were just Keyblade Wielders," said Regina, "remember, that mouse is a Keyblade Master."

"I don't get the difference," said Gaston, "so let's just vaporize the little rodent once and for all." He then aimed his hands at The King and powered up his destruction beams.

"Don't move, dirt bagt!" shouted Yuna as she flew in front of Gaston's face with her pistols aimed at his eyes.

"You again!" snapped Gaston. He then grabbed Yuna with one hand in a grip that threatened to kill her in seconds, "I'm gonna crush you like the bug you are!"

"That's my girlfriend from another life, you prick!" shouted Tidus as he ran into the area and cut off Gaston's arm at the elbow with his longsword, while Wakka ran in and threw his Blitzball at Dio Brando.

Yuna fell to the ground but was caught by Rikku and Paine, while Selphie rushed in and bashed Lady Tremaine on the head with her nunchaku.

"Well…isn't this unexpected," said Regina as the area erupted into an out of control melee between the forces of light and dark, "and quite entertaining if I may say so."

"Well, if you're so entertained, why don't you get more involved?" asked Columbina, "do something to help!" she indicated the duel between King Mickey and Darklight, in which The King had the twisted Princess on the defensive.

"She's your creation, you help her," said Regina, "then again, I am in the mood to act, so I will!" with that she cast a spell that sent out a wave of dark purple magic that sapped the energy of Tidus, Selphie, Wakka, Yuffie and the Gullwings, while leaving the villains unharmed.

Yet King Mickey was still fighting Darklight, only now he was wearing Darklight down to the point that a few more moves and he'd win.

"I said help her, not the others!" snapped Columbina.

"I did," said Regina as she confidently crossed her arms, "just not how you wanted me to."

At that Gaston and Lady Tremaine fired their respective dark attacks at King Mickey, whom was forced to block with his Keyblade. This allowed Darklight time to recover and attack, landing several solid hit son The King that knocked him back several paces, then delivered a more powerful swing that knocked The King into a nearby pool of water and dismissing his Keyblade in the process.

"Now leave me alone so I can work!" snapped Darklight as she resumed her search for the Keyhole.

"You!" shouted Tidus at Regina as he and the others tried to get back up, "I thought we had a truce!"

"Not anymore we don't, man," groaned Wakka.

"Why, Regina?" asked King Mickey as he struggled out of the water but found that his right arm was broken, "why are you working with Columbia? I thought you were different, different from Maleficent."

"I am different," said Regina, "and it suits my own means to side with Columbina."

"Oh, here it is," said Darklight as she stood in front of a tree stump. With one swing of her dark Keyblade, she cut the stump in half, revealing the Keyhole.

"Now why would that wretched Cheshire Cat put the Keyhole there?" asked Lady Tremaine.

"Who knows," said Dio Brando as he brushed some dirt off of his shoulder, "let's just smash it so we can get out of this crazy world already."

"I'll smash it when I'm good and ready," said Darklight, "and that time is now."

"NO! DON'T!" shouted King Mickey, yet his cry went unheard as Darklight aimed and fired a beam of dark magic from her black Keyblade. The beam hit the Keyhole, causing it to pulse with dark purple energy.

"Someone stop her!" shouted Paine as the Keyhole began to crack.

"I would but I can barely move!" said Rikku.

"Just a little more," said Darklight as more and more cracks appeared in the Keyhole.

"Stop it!" shouted Yuna as she aimed and fired one of her pistols at Darklight, just as the stopped her beam and lowered her Keyblade. The bullet hit Darklight in the shoulder and caused her to nearly fall over as blood began to drip from the wound.

"You! You shot me!" shouted Darklight as the ground began to shake, "I'm going to…"

That's as far as Darklight got as the Keyhole exploded and a towering fountain of darkness rose up, from which poured a seemingly endless hoard of Pureblood Heartless.

"Oh come on," moaned Selphie as Yuffie helped her up.

"Marines, we are leaving!" shouted Tidus as he helped Wakka get up, then picked up all three Gullwings.

"Take a good look, Mickey Mouse!" shouted Columbina as she and the other villains shielded themselves form the rising tide of darkness that began to sweep across Wonderland, "Four worlds have been drowned and eight to go, and just you wait, for we are saving your precious Disney Castle for last!"

"No, I'm saving Radiant Garden for last," said Darklight.

"I thought we were going to destroy the rodent's world last," said Dio Brando.

"I changed my mind," said Darklight, "we're saving Radiant Garden for last."

"It doesn't matter," said Columbina, "for in the end, all of The Realms of Light shall succumb to darkness!"

"Never!" shouted King Mickey as he summoned a portal, which Tidus, Yuffie and the others retreated through, "We'll find a way to stop you once and for all!"

"Perhaps," said Columba, "but you failed today, and that's all that matters!" she then laughed like the vile villainess she was as The King, a mixed look of defiance and sorrowful defeat on his face, ran through the portal and closed it before it was engulfed by the surge of darkness.

 **The End of Chapter 6.**

 _Next chapter Kairi facing an even more torturous game as she fights to save her friends from Rapture. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	8. Chapter 7: A Shocking Rescue

_Last time found Kairi forced to crush her hand in order to save Joshua, all the while DiDe taunted her with even more suffering. Kirito and Leafa managed to leave the dungeon temporarily, with Kazuto waking up to call Samantha Armitage for help. Back in the game, our heroes were forced to defend Kirito's avatar against an onslaught of Heartless. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 7: A Shocking Rescue**

… **Kiriyaga Residence…**

"And that's everything, Samantha," said Kazuto, whom had just finished telling Dr. Armitage all that had happened, from the moment he, Asuna and Yui first encountered Kairi at The Town of Beginnings, their teaming up with Xenophon and the others, their investigation of Hell House, the initial sighting of Chrissie, the arrival of DiDe and her penalty games, up to Kazuto logging out to make the phone call.

"This is all incredible, Kazuto!" said Samantha, "almost unbelievable."

"You do believe me, right?" Kazuto asked.

"I'd be a poor scientist if I didn't," said Samantha, "Kazuto, what I'm about to tell you could not only cost me my job at the university but could also put you and your friends in even more danger than you already are. I believe that the ones responsible for digitizing Kairi against her will are rogue scientists under the employment of Foundation X."

"Foundation X?" Kazuto asked, "who are they?"

"The worst of humanity," said Samantha, "men of the mind from other worlds who sold their souls in the pursuit of unethical scientific progress. They develope weapons and high-profit technology that's harmful to a world. In short, they're death merchants."

"And Kairi and her friends are in the hands of these scientific butchers?!" exclaimed Kazuto, "we've got to stop them!"

"You've already started by thwarting part of their hacked dungeon," said Samantha, "and by telling me that the enemy hadn't completed their twisted A.I. fiend."

"What now?" Kazuto asked.

"There's not much I can do until my people get a lead on where Foundation X has their lab set up," said Samantha, "but the fact that they hacked ALO may be their undoing, for even the best hack can be traced. As for you and your friends, Kazuto, you keep going. Help Kairi find her friends and stay alive until we find the enemy base and shut it down."

"Do you think we can return Kairi to the real world?" Kazuto asked.

"It seems logically possible," said Samantha, "Foundation X has the technology to digitize her, so the process could work in reverse. We won't know for sure until we secure their technology, but that's my responsibility. You just focus on keeping you and yours alive, we'll take care of everything else."

"I will, Samantha," said Kazuto, "and thank you."

"Don't thank me, I should be the one thanking you," said Samantha, "who knows how long Foundation X has been operating on our world? Or how long they would have gone before someone else discovered their activities? I owe you one, Kazuto."

"Oh, that's not necessary," said Kazuto in a modest and slightly embarrassed tone.

"Well, consider yourself having me in your debut," said Samantha, "you, Asuna and the others, especially you and Asuna. You talk to me when this is over and I'll see about arranging full scholarship at Miskatonic U."

"Now that definitely isn't necessary," said Kazuto.

"Well, we'll work out something," said Samantha, "now I've kept you from your friends long enough. Get back online and delete that digital demon before it decides to arbitrarily murder one of Kairi's friends."

"Right, and thanks again," said Kazuto. He then hung up, dropped his phone on his desk, got on the bed, put back on his Nerve Gear, laid back and prepared himself for another Full Dive into cyberspace.

"Link Start!"

* * *

… **Hell House…**

Kirito opened his eyes to the sight and sound of his friends and loved ones fighting against throngs of enhanced Pureblood Heartless. He then noticed two Nova Shadows get past Kairi and Asuna and rush at him.

He got back up, drew both swords and easily sliced both Nova Shadows in half, then destroyed an Invisible.

"Mama!" shouted Yui, whom was safely out of harms way astride Pina, whom was hovering above the fight, "Mama! Papa's awake!"

"Kirito-kun!" shouted Asuna as she stabbed a Neo Shadow, then blocked a slicing attack from an Invisible.

"About time you woke up, man!" said Klien, "enjoy your dream? I want to know if there was any naughty bits."

"Oh shut up!" said Kirito as he destroyed more and more of the enhanced Heartless with greater and greater speed. By now he was destroying more than the others were put together.

"Is he alright fighting like that?" Kairi asked as Kirito took up so much of the fighting that she, Asuna and the others were able to catch their breath.

"He's more than alright," said Asuna as she looked at Kirito with adoring, admiring eyes, "he's in his element."

"He's like a god of the blade," said Felix, "worthy of being written by Virgil, Homer and Ovid."

"I think he's the type that'll be happy just to be blogged about," said Mercedes.

By now the numbers of incoming Heartless had stopped and Kirito had finished them off. He let out a sigh of satisfied relief before sheathing his two swords.

"Not bad, Black Swordsman Kirito," said DiDe grudgingly, "not bad at all."

"If you're so impressed, come fight me yourself," said Kirito as he placed his hand on Elucidator.

"Thank you, no," said DiDe, "my creators are still working on finishing my combat software."

"Oh yeah, your creators," said Kirito, "you mean Foundation X."

"Foundation X?!" exclaimed Kairi.

"You know of them?" Kirito asked.

"My friends and I ran into them back on Banoi," said Kairi, "a doomsday cult hired them to create a zombie virus capable of wiping out the world."

"I know nothing of that particular project," said DiDe as she glared at Kirito, "but how do you know about Foundation X?"

"A friend in the real world told me about them," said Kirito, "she told me that her friends are looking for your creators and it's only a matter of time before their lab is found and justice is delivered."

"And it's only a matter of time before Leafa gets back with reinforcements," said Asuna.

"Oh, yeah, the Sylph who got away," said DiDe, "about her, she won't be coming back. By now my creators have upgraded the dungeon's anti-teleport software. The Sylph bitch won't be coming back with help any time soon. Oh, and before you ask, Kirito, your bitch of a navigation pixy, her trick with the logout won't work again."

"Drat!" said a disappointed Yui.

"Well, you may have that advantage now," Felix, "but not for long."

"We'll just have to beat you before Leafa tries to come back," said Asuna, "and with Kirito's friend in the real world…" she looked at Kirito, "who did you call, by the way?"

"Hold it a second!" shouted Xenophon, "don't say another word!" he then raised his staff and chanted a spell.

"What are you doing?!" snapped DiDe, "what do you hope to…" that's as far as she got before a dome of shimmering white mist surrounded Xenophon, Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others, leaving DiDe outside it.

"What happened?" a startled Klien asked as he and the others looked at the shimmering mist around them.

"I cast a Dome of Privacy spell," said Xenophon, "it's a variation of the Silence spell. So long as we stay within the dome, DiDe can't see or hear anything we see and do."

"So we can talk without her eavesdropping," said Beatrice.

"But couldn't she just walk into the dome?" Albion asked, "I mean, it's just mist, right?" He touched the dome and was surprised to find the mist was solid.

"She can't touch us for the next five or ten minutes," said Xenophon, "it's a recently added spell to D&D, so I'm not sure exactly how long it'll last."

"Then we'd better make it quick," said Kirito, "I talked with Dr. Samantha Armitage from Miskatonic University."

"You've been in contact with Dr. Armitage?!" exclaimed Beatrice in a shocked and embarrassed tone.

" _The_ Dr. Armitage?" asked Trillian, "head librarian of M.U.'s Arkham campus?"

"The very same Dr. Armitage who leads The Night Scholars?" asked Xenophon.

"You know about The Night Scholars?" asked Asuna.

"I'm in The Night Scholars," said Xenophon, "or, I was until…" he paused in painful thought, as if remembering something highly unpleasant, "…until I retired."

"You retired from The Night Scholars?" asked Albion, "how old are you?"

"Old enough to know when to walk away from something before I get killed," said Xenophon, "and how do you know about The Night Scholars?"

"Yeah, I thought it was supposed to be a secret," said Kirito.

"How do you know?" asked Beatrice accusingly.

"Dr. Armitage was the one who came to recruit me for Miskatonic University today," said Asuna, "and to invite Kirito-kun and I into The Night Scholars."

"But only the best and brightest get invited into The Night Scholars," said Mercedes, "and it really isn't that big of a secret, at least not on campus that is."

"It doesn't matter," said Xenophon, "if Dr. Armitage herself is on the case, then it's only a matter of time before those responsible for this mess are found. All we have to do is hold out and stay alive until then."

"Are you sure?" Joshua asked, "Kairi had to mutilate herself in order to save me. Chrissie and the others are still out there, so who knows what that thing, that demon, what she'll make Kairi do to save them?"

"I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep us all alive," said Kairi.

"Just focus on staying alive until the Fighting Cephalopods come," said a smiling Beatrice in a serious tone, "when Samantha Armitage is on the case, the case is as good as closed."

"You sound like you know from personal experience," said Kirito.

"She…Dr. Armatige," said Beatrice hesitantly, "we've got history, and please don't ask me to explain, it's deeply personal."

"Okay, we'll let it drop," said Asuna.

"Now that we've gotten that taken care of," said Lisbeth, "what's next?"

It was then that the privacy spell shattered. "I'm making a new rule!" said an irate DiDe as she glared at Xenophon wrathfully, "no more privacy spells! From now on I get to see and hear everything you humans do, or else!"

"Or else what?" Klien asked, "you'll spank us for being naughty?"

"Don't tempt me," said DiDe through gritted teeth, "you humans think you own cyberspace, that you can do whatever the fuck you want. Well, YOU DON'T! This is MY house and you will obey MY rules!"

"We're done following your rules, DiDe," said Kairi, "and we're definitely done playing your games."

"No, you're not," said DiDe, "you're not even remotely done. You think crushing your hand pushed you to the limit? You're just getting started!" with that she vanished again.

"I'd give my right eye for an anti-virus program in the shape of a smart missile right about now," said Albion.

"She's just trying to rile us up," said Kairi, "especially me. But I'm not going to fall for her tricks again. Whatever happens next, I'm gonna keep my wits about me."

Just a doorway and corridor appeared in the wall in front of our heroes, then they all heard a girl shouting.

"HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

"Rachael!" shouted Joshua as he rushed into the corridor.

"Him on the other hand is another matter," said Kairi as she and the others rushed after Joshua through the corridor. A few twists and turns later found the ground running into another pitch black room so dark they couldn't even see the light from the hallway outside.

But then the door to the room slammed shut and a spotlight revealed DiDe.

"Welcome, welcome, Kairi," said DiDe, "welcome to Round 2 of the game."

"No more games, demon!" shouted Joshua, "where's Rachael!?"

"Right here!" said DiDe as the room lit up, revealing Rachael strapped to an electric chair that had a digital meter atop it.

"HELP ME!" shouted Rachael as she struggled against the restraints on her wrists, torso and legs, while her head was secured to the back of the chair as the electrode cap was lowered onto her head.

"Take one step and she dies instantly!" shouted DiDe as a remote appeared in her hands, "I press this and she rides the lightning."

"You let her go, you crazy bitch!" shouted Joshua.

"Crazy?" DiDe asked in an insulted tone, then smiled insidiously, "no, I'm not crazy, just programmed that way."

It was then that Kairi and the others saw a machine that was connected to the electric chair via cables. This machine was little more than a large black box with two steel-gray handles sticking out from one side.

"Here's how the game works," said DiDe, "a current of 600 volts will begin to flow through the chair. Now before you ask, it won't be the voltage that kills her, it's the amperage. It'll start out at just one milliamp, with the sensation of a mild tingle. But then it'll increase to five milliamps, then ten, then fifteen and so on. The more amps, the greater the pain and greater the chance of respiratory failure, ventricular fibrillation and eventually cardiac arrest."

"Meaning it'll stop her heat," said Asuna.

"Bingo!" said DiDe, "yes, the current will kill her, unless Kairi grabs those handles and takes the current herself. That particular current has stable amperage of 100 milliamps. Kairi must grab both handles and maintain her grip for a total of sixty seconds."

"A full minute? That'll kill her!" exclaimed Lisbeth.

"Oh, it might," said DiDe, "then again, so would 10,000 milliamps, which is what will eventually flow through young Rachael's body. Oh, I almost forgot."

The electrode cap on Rachael vanished, only to be replaced by a small wet sponge, then was topped by the cap.

"Never light up without a wet sponge," said a grinning DiDe, "so, Kairi, what will you do? Will you risk your own electrocution? Or allow a friend to die for sure? Think about it, but don't think for too long." She then pressed the button on her remote.

A high pitched humming could be heard as the digital meter activated. Rachael gasped as the felt the current beginning to flow through her.

"Rachael!" shouted Kairi as she tried to reach the handles, only to be restrained by Asuna and Mercedes.

"Kairi! Don't do it!" shouted Rachael, "don't kill yourself over me, I'm not worth it!"

"You underestimate yourself too much," said DiDe as she turned a dial on her remote, sending a signal to the electric chair. The digital meter atop the chair increased as the humming grew louder and higher, while Rachael gasped in pain as the amperage increased slightly.

"Me, on the other hand," said DiDe, "I'm in perfect control of the situation. If I want to turn off the current, I can. I if I want to crank the amperage up to killing levels, I can, and will, unless Kairi plays the game. But your own suffering shall suffice for the time being." She then turned the dial up another notch, increasing the amperage and earning a cry of pain from Rachael as she gripped the arms of the electric chair.

"Don't do it, Kairi!" shouted Rachael through gritted teeth, "don't give this freak the satisfaction!"

"Oh, I'm far from satisfied," said DiDe as she turned up the dial another notch.

"You want satisfaction!?" snapped Kairi, "I hope you choke on it!" with that she broke free of Mercedes and Asuna and rushed to the black box.

"No! Don't!" shouted Asuna as Kairi grabbed both metal handles, earning a shriek of pain from her as the current now flowed through her body, while Rachael gasped with relief and slumped against her restraints, the digital meter registering the amperage dropped down to zero.

"You sick bitch!" snapped Klien as he glared at DiDe, "just wait until we can really fight! I'll cut your head off and stick it on a pike!"

"Is that so?" DiDe asked in a taunting manner, "well, just for that insult, I'll just double the amount of time Kairi has to carry the current!"

"That'll kill her for sure!" snapped Asuna, "you can't change the rules in the middle of the game! That's not fair!"

"My house, my rules," said DiDe, "what I say is fair is fair. Any more insults and I'll add another minute to Kairi's time."

"Just…drop it…everyone!" shouted Kairi as she endured the current, "I…I can…take it!"

"Well, if you want it so badly, you can have that extra minute," said DiDe.

"Stop it!" snapped Kirito, "you've got what you wanted; Kairi's suffering! Isn't that enough!?"

"Not nearly enough," said DiDe, "not nearly enough to satisfy my programming, let alone the wishes of Columbina. But there is a way for you humans to cheat and win the round. See the locks on the electric chair?"

"Yeah, there's one for each strap," said Trillian as she, Albion, Beatrice, Mercedes, Agil, Klien, Kirito and Joshua hurried over to the electric chair, "two for the arms, two for the legs, one for the torso and one for the head. Six all together."

"Find the keys that match each lock and she's free," said DiDe, "Free her and you end Kairi's suffering."

"You've gotta be kidding!" said Klien, "it can't be that simple? Where's the keys?"

"Right here," said DiDe as she indicated a large glass jar filled with hundreds of keys, "the keys are in there, somewhere. You just have to find the right one!"

"You hell spawn bitch!" snapped Felix as he and the others looked at the hundreds of keys, "you cyber slut!"

"Oh, and just for that, Kairi can have two more minutes!" said DiDe, "and just because I'm feeling particularly evil, she now has to start all over again from the beginning!"

At that a digital clock appeared above Kairi and began counting down from 5:00.

"I…you…argh!" exclaimed Kirito as he grabbed the jar and dumped the keys onto the floor, "everyone! Help me find the right keys!"

"Do it quick!" shouted Mercedes as she, Kirito Agil, Klien, Joshua, Trillian, Albion and Beatrice grabbed some keys and ran over to the electric chair, "I don't know how much longer Kairi can hold out!"

"I can…hold as…as long as…needed!" shouted Kairi as she continued to endure the current.

"Oh really?" DiDe asked in a taunting manner as Kirito began trying to fit the keys into the locks, "you've got over four minutes left. Just how much of that will you endure before your survival instincts take over and you let go of the handles? You were able to crush your own hand, but there's a limit to how long the human body can suffer before your will is overridden by self preservation. Tell me, how long until your hands start to burn and blacken from the current?"

Kairi ignored DiDe, focusing on maintaining contact with the handles.

"Well, you're no fun," said DiDe in a disappointed tone, "that'll have to change." she then summoned a feather and began tickling Kairi's nose, "my creators did a quick examination of your DNA before you were digitized. Did you know that you're mildly allergic to goose down?"

"WHAT!?" exclaimed Kairi, "Why you…ah…ah…ACHOO!"

Instinctively, Kairi's left hand flew up to her face to cover her sneeze, breaking the circuit and stopping the digital countdown above her.

Almost instantly, Rachael screamed in agony as the current flowed through the chair again, only now the digital meter registering the amperage shot up to double it was before.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that if Kairi breaks the connection, Rachael gets shocked with twice as much amps," said DiDe. She then giggled, "silly me."

"You're really dropping the ball, demon!" snapped Kirito as he and the others tried to open the locks with the keys, yet the electricity flowing through Rachael prevented them from touching the metal locks.

"You want to save her, Kairi? Save her," said DiDe, "you know what to do."

Kairi looked at the palms of her hands, which were covered in second degree burns. "You are pure evil!" said Kairi. She then grabbed the handles again, earning a cry of pain from her and a sigh of relief from Rachel, while at the same time the countdown above Kairi resumed.

"Thank you," said DiDe smugly.

"Keep smirking, see what it gets you," said Agil. He then shouted triumphantly as he successfully unlocked Rachael's left arm.

"Two down!" shouted Mercedes unlocked Rachael's right leg.

"Forget the rest, just get this helmet off her!" shouted Kirito, "break the circuit and she's out of danger!"

"What do you think we're doing?" Lisbeth exclaimed, "wait…what the…Mother Puss Bucket! Half these keys aren't even real! Look! They're plastic!"

"These are made of wood!" snapped Trillian, "they're just painted to look metal!"

"The only real keys are the ones for these locks," said Albion as he successfully unlocked Rachael's torso, right arm and left leg, "but where's the one for the head strap?"

"Where is it, DiDe!?" asked Asuna irately as she glared at her, "where's the last key?"

"The one place a man would never look," said DiDe smugly.

Just then everyone caught the faint smell of burning flesh.

"Rachel! I…I can't hold on anymore!" shouted Kairi, tears of pain and defeat falling from her eyes.

"You don't have to!" said Asuna as she rushed over and grabbed the top of the handles. She gave a yelp of pain as the current now flowed through her. She gritted her teeth against the pain, "let go! I've got it!"

"What! NO!" shouted DiDe, "you can't do that! The rules! _My Rules!_ "

"Fuck your rules, demon!" snapped Joshua, "now where's the key!?"

"I already told you, it's in the once place a man would never look," said DiDe.

"'The one place a man would never look,'" said Beatrice, "I think I solved your clue."

"It wasn't a clue!" snapped DiDe.

"Oh, but it is," said Beatrice as she smiled, "unintentionally, but a clue nonetheless. Trillian? Mercedes? Be a pair of dears and restrain Ms. DiDe for me?"

"With pleasure," said Mercedes as she and Trillian grabbed DiDe by the arms.

"NO! LET GO!" shouted DiDe, "you're not supposed to touch me! The Rules…"

"Aren't as binding as you might think," said Beatrice as she walked up to DiDe. Without warning, she reached into DiDe's dress, earning a cry of disgust from the creature.

"What…now hold on a second!" exclaimed Lisbeth, while Kirito and the others looked equally shocked, except for a highly interested and eager Klien.

"Gotcha!" shouted Beatrice as she pulled out the key. She ran over and unlocked the head strap and threw off the electrode cap.

Asuna gave a sigh of relief as she released the handles and staggered back, looking at the minor burns on her hands.

"Get your filthy organic hands off of me!" shouted DiDe as she shrugged herself free of Trillian and Mercedes, "you…how dare you touch me! I ought to kill you all here and now!"

"But you can't," said Beatrice, "not only are you lacking in combat software, you're also open to physical contact. If I wanted to, I could punch you square in the face and there wouldn't be anything you could do to stop me!"

"You're a flawed program, DiDe!" said Asuna as she helped Kairi up, while Joshua, Agil and Lisbeth helped Rachel away from the chair, "created by flawed and dangerously disturbed people."

"Foundation X!" said Kirito, "we know you were created by a team of death merchants!"

"So, you know," said DiDe, "Well, I'll just have to tell them that you know, while they'll just have to try harder to destroy you. You may have won this round, but there are still four more humans to rescue! And you, Kairi, you allowed another friend of yours to suffer in your place. How can you live with that?!"

"I simply can," said Kairi as she glared at DiDe, "I know now that you're going to make each rescue harder and harder for me to endure. Well," she held out her hands, the palms were nearly burned black, "I've taken this and will take more! No matter what it costs!"

"You won't be so confident when you realize just how high a price you've got to pay!" shouted DiDe. With that she vanished.

But then she reappeared half a second later, "oh, I almost forgot. The majority of my creators wouldn't want you to know this, but one of them recently uploaded me with some special programming; a message to reveal to you if you managed to get this far in the game."

"What's the message?" Asuna asked as she used a healing item to cure the worst of Kairi's burned hands.

"Funny you should ask, Asuna," said DiDe, "or should I say…Tatiana?"

"What?" a shocked Asuna asked, "What did you call me?"

At that DiDe smiled insidiously, "I figured that'd get a rise out of you. Here's the message, Tatiana…'Oberon doesn't forgive or forget.'" With that she vanished, laughing like the demonic creature she was.

"Wait a second! Get back here!" shouted Kirito, "who gave you that message!?"

"She's gone, man," said Klien, "now what was that about?"

"Who is this Oberon?" Rachael asked weakly.

"And why'd he call you Tatiana?" asked Kairi as Mercedes and Beatrice bandaged her hands.

"He…he…" said a horrified Asuna.

"He's the bastard who imprisoned Asuna in Alfheim after we beat SAO," said Kirito, "but…it's impossible! He's behind bars! Sugō Nobuyuki is behind bars!"

"Apparently not," said Beatrice.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"Who gave DiDe the command to reveal our colleague?!" snapped Dr. Remington.

"Forget our colleague," said Dr. Winchester, "they know about us! They know about Foundation X!"

"But we know nothing about these so called Night Scholars," said Dr. Weatherby.

It was then that Sugō Nobuyuki walked into the lab, "sorry I'm late, everyone, traffic was just awful today."

"You son of a bitch!" snapped Dr. Remington as he stomped up to, grabbed Sugō by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against one of the computer servers, "you stupid son of a bitch! You interfered with DiDe's programming!"

"I did?" Sugō asked innocently, then smiled insidiously, "yes, I did. And I had a very good reason to do so." He then gently but firmly pushed Dr. Remington away from him, walked up to one of the computer terminals and replayed one of the recorded images, focusing on Kirito and Asuna, "I've got history with those two, history that I wish to settle once and for all, after they've paid for what they did to me of course."

"You risked exposing us to the world at large in order to satisfy a personal grudge?!" snapped Dr. Remington.

"Just how did you know that these two particular players were involved?" Dr. Weatherby asked, "you haven't been here."

"But I've been keeping tabs on the operation," said Sugō as he pulled out his mobile, "as soon as you activated DiDe, well ahead of schedule I might add, I was able to observe everything she saw, heard and did. I must admit that, despite being deployed with unfinished software, she's done remarkably well."

"We're working on finishing her combat software," said Dr. Winchester.

"You still have to answer for having DiDe expose yourself to those children," said Dr. Remington, "we risked so much bringing you into the operation."

"Ah, yes, my liberation," said Sugō, "that was pure brilliance, triggering a power outage just when I was served supper in my isolation cell. The food cart had a hidden compartment where one of your minions was concealed. You then scanned my DNA into one of those miraculous devices, the ones that resemble USB flash drives."

"Gaia Memories," said Dr. Weatherby, "you don't have to remind us. We used the prototype Clone Gaia Memory to disguise one of our technicians as you and smuggled you out of prison so you could take part in the operation."

"And such a wonderful operation it is," said Sugō, "use a hacked dungeon to copy the minds of ALO players and perform experiments in mind control, based on my work of course. I still expect credit from your superiors when the operation is complete."

"The operation may come to naught, you fool!" snapped Dr. Remington, "if there's even the slightest chance that the local authorities were to find us, we'd have to destroy the lab and evacuate this world."

"Leaving you behind to face the consequences," said Dr. Winchester.

"You wouldn't abandon me!" snapped Sugō, "my work and genius is too valuable to simply cast aside!"

"Your own psychotic nature makes you a liability," said Dr. Winchester, "you've been on probation, but this fiasco of exposing yourself to those two players, we ought to hand you over to the authorities as a distraction so we can plan our evacuation."

"And leave Kairi's soul intact? I think not," said Sugō smugly as he straightened his glasses, "I know full well that Columbina's your true mistress. You wouldn't dare leave a job from her unfinished, would you?"

"We could if we offered you as an excuse," said Dr. Weatherby.

"We're not in danger yet," said Dr. Winchester, "while the Night Scholars are an unknown variable, we still have the advantage over Kairi and her companions. She may have overcome two of DiDe's scenarios, but it's only a matter of time before she breaks."

"Assuming we finish DiDe's programming," said Dr. Weatherby, "and she can actually destroy Kairi, body and soul."

"Believe me, my friends," said Sugō, "DiDe will fulfill her purpose." He then smiled insidiously, "in fact, I believe I have just the programming in mind to get the job done." He went to one of the computer stations and began typing rapidly.

"We're already working on her combat software," said Dr. Remington.

"This will be a special bit of programming," said Sugō as he kept typing, "trust me, this will satisfy you and Columbina. Kairi will be utterly annihilated, as well as her companions," he then paused and looked at the image of Kirito and Asuna, "I just hope DiDe doesn't completely destroy them."

"The girl you obsessed over," said Dr. Winchester, "you still want her?"

"Oh, I want her alright," said Sugō in a maniacal tone, "I want Asuna dead! I want Kirito dead! I won't be satisfied until they both are dead! And I want them to know that it was I! Sugō Nobuyuki! Who was the instrument of their demise!" At that he laughed like the deranged lunatic he was.

 **The end of Chapter 7.**

 _Next chapter finds Kairi suffering twice as much as DiDe forces her to save two friends at once. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	9. Chapter 8: Double Dilemma

_Last time found our heroes facing another of DiDe's torture games, forcing Kairi to endure agonizing electrical burns to save one of the Rapture survivors from being electrocuted. But the real shocker came when DiDe delivered a message from one of her creators; a message from Kirito and Asuna's past that left them horrified. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 8: Double Dilemma**

"So this Sugō guy, he used to work for your dad," said Mercedes to Asuna, "until he went psycho and trapped you in a sick, sadistic Shakespearian fantasy."

"He was insane to begin with," said Asuna, "I never liked him, there was something that put me off every time I saw him; either at an office party or a social event. Oh, he was always kind and charming, but he always tried too hard, like he was compensating or covering for something, though I didn't realize it at the time."

"I knew he was rotten the moment your father walked out of your room at the hospital," said Kirito, "one minute he was okay, a little unnerving, but okay. But the second your father was out of earshot, he turned into an evil overlord-wannabe. And it wasn't his superior snobness or the fact that he boasted how he was gonna have you marry him that pissed me off, well, that pissed me off, but what really got me started was the way he kept touching you."

"What?" Asuna asked in a startled tone.

"He touched her?" Kairi asked.

"He molested her while she was unconscious!?" exclaimed Trillian.

"You never told me he molested me!" exclaimed Asuna at Kirito.

"He didn't molest you!" said Kirito.

"I'll bet he raped her ever chance he got, the unscrupulous prick," muttered Rachael.

"HE DID WHAT?!" screamed a horrified and outraged Asuna.

"He didn't do that!" said Kirito, "at least he didn't while I was there that one time."

"What did the bastard do?" Felix asked.

"And you don't need to hear any of this, Silica," said Lisbeth, "you too, Yui-chan."

"I'm not a child, Lisbeth!" said Silica, "I can handle any disgusting details Kirito has to say."

"And I want to know what that evil, evil, evil man did to Mama!" said Yui as she sat on Pina's neck, while Pina gave a grunt of agreement.

"He sniffed Asuna's hair a lot," said Kirito, "and he licked her face."

"That low down, filthy beast!" snapped Mercedes, "I should rip his tongue out and make him choke on it! And then I'll go to work on him!"

"How can you work on him if he's dead?" Trillian asked.

"I don't know," said Mercedes, "but I'm sure it'll involve a lot of torture items. Then I'll cut him in half with The Scythe."

"What scythe?" Xenophon asked, "Death's scythe?"

"Oh, not that scythe, The Scythe," said Mercedes, "the one Buffy received at the end of Season 7."

"Oh, that Scythe," sayd Xenophon, "the one she used to cut Nathan Fillion in half with, right?"

"Yep," said Mercedes as she smiled at a very happy memory, "and that's the only time in the whole show Buffy ever laughed at one of her own puns."

"I think we're forgetting one very important fact," said Beatrice, "assuming that DiDe was telling the truth about him, there's nothing any of us can do about Sugō Nobuyuki while we're online. Therefore, we should focus on what's in front of us; namely how we're going to beat DiDe and escape from Hell House."

"You're right," said Kirito, "I shouldn't let that bastard get to me."

"Then let's do something constructive," said Xenophon, "Joshua, Rachael, is there anything you can remember from before you woke up inside Hell House?"

"What good will that do?" Albion asked.

"It'll give us a better understanding of what our enemies are capable of," said Xenophon, "and pass that information along to Dr. Armitage and The Night Scholars."

"How?" Mercedes asked, "how can we call them from in here? It's not like we can send them a text from inside the game."

"Maybe not, or maybe we can," said Xenophon, "it couldn't hurt to know."

"Well, do you remember anything?" Kairi asked Rachael and Joshua.

"All I remember was us getting sucked into that vortex thing that bitch Darklight caused," said Rachael as she irately crossed her arms, "if I ever see that evil woman again, I'll sink my teeth into her cheek and rip her face off!"

"Not until I keelhaul her fucking carcus under a ship with so many barnacles, there'll be nothing left but bits of bone and skin," said Joshua.

"Hey! That evil woman used to be a friend of mine!" said Kairi.

"Well, that friend of yours wiped our asses halfway across time and space!" snapped Rachael.

"She's not herself!" said Kairi, "whatever Columbina did to her, I have to believe that Bethany can be saved. I…I have to."

"Yeah, good luck with that," said Joshua, "and no, I don't remember anything either."

"Don't be so sure," said Xenophon, "close your eyes and think. Relax first and focus on what happened."

"Well…alright," said Joshua as he sat down, closed his eyes and breathed deeply a few times.

"This is pointless," said Rachael, "we need to find Chrissie and the others."

"We will, but first things first," said Xenophon, "alright, Joshua, you and your friends were separated by Darklight. What happened after that?"

"We…I…I was laying on some kind of table," said Joshua as he tried to focus his thoughts, "there was a bright light overhead and I couldn't see much. I heard people talking, I could barely understand half what they were saying. I think I saw one of them. He wore white, like a lab coat, or a business suit."

"Foundation X," said Kairi, "what happened then?"

"They…they took blood samples from all of us," said Joshua, "and then put us each in a room to be examined further. I don't know what they did, everything so fuzzy. Then we were all put onto these weird beds and had I.V. tubes put into our arms. Then this helmet was put on me."

He then opened his eyes and stood up, "next thing I knew, I was here in this horrible place."

"I don't remember any of that," said Rachael.

"I think you were unconscious the whole time," said Joshua, "so was Calvin and Lisa. Chrissie tried to fight our captors, while Travis…" he closed his eyes again, "Travis…he was in a different lab for a long time. "

"What do you think they did to him?" Asuna asked.

"Considering that this is Foundation X, anything," said Xenophon.

"I think we're about to find out," said Felix as another hallway appeared in the wall, from which our heroes could hear two different people screaming for help.

"Come on!" shouted Rachael as she ran into the hallway, with Joshua right behind her.

"Wait! It could be a trap!" shouted Silica as she, Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others ran after Rachael and Joshua.

Several twists and turns in the hallway later found them outside another door that lead to a third room of pitch blackness. Once everyone was in the room, the door slammed shut and a spotlight revealed DiDe.

"Welcome to Round 3 of the game, everyone," said DiDe, "this time, I've decided to raise the stakes a bit, kicking things up a notch if you will."

"Cut the crap, DiDe!" snapped Kirito.

"Just start the game already," said an impatient Asuna.

"Well, look who's eager to get the ball rolling," said DiDe, "very well."

At that the lights came on, revealing Calvin and Liza, both manacled to different torture devices, while connected to the torture machines was a large set of scales with plastic containers on either end.

"Get us the fuck out of here!" shouted Liza as she struggled to break free of a set of flexible iron bars that forced her into a sitting fetal position, while Calvin's wrists and ankles were chained to a set of rollers on either end of his machine.

"As you can see, dear humans," said DiDe as she walked around the torture machines, "young Calvin is on a Rack, while little Liza is on a Scavenger's Daughter. This round of the game is one I'd like to call 'Double Extreme.'"

"One stretches, the other compresses," said Beatrice.

"Right in one!" said an impressed DiDe, "you just earned a gold star," with that she tossed Beatrice a gold piece in the shape of a five-pointed star.

"Okay, I get what you're going to do to them," said Kairi, "so what do you want me to do?"

"Who cares what she want's you to do!" exclaimed Liza, "just do it so we can get out of here!"

"No, you idiot!" snapped Calvin, "that's what that bitch wants! She wants Kairi to suffer in our place!"

"And she will suffer to keep you from being ripped apart," said DiDe, "and to keep your dear little sister from being crushed like a grapefruit."

"I'll crush you like a grapefruit!" shouted Liza as she struggled harder to break free, "just wait till I'm out of this pile of scrap! I'll drown you in a bathtub!"

"Oh, there might just be a drowning here today," said DiDe, "a drowning in one's own blood, that is. That's the beauty of The Scavenger's Daughter; it breaks the ribs and crushes the internal organs. Pretty soon you'll be bleeding out of your mouth, nose, eyes, ears, until you can't breathe. I wonder, considering how small you are, how will you die? Will you suffocate when your lungs can't take in any air? Will you drown in your own blood? Or will your heart be crushed like an eggshell?"

She then looked at Calvin, "whereas you, you'll simply be torn to pieces and bleed to death."

"Gee, I'm so lucky," said Calvin with venomous sarcasm. He then looked at Kairi, "whatever this psycho bitch wants, don't do it!"

"I haven't even told her what her penalty game is yet," said DiDe in an admonishing manner, "you're so impatient. Everyone is so impatient these days. That's the thing about you humans, you never stop and smell the roses."

"Like you've ever smelled a rose," said Kairi, "alright, how do you want me to torture myself?" she walked up to the plastic containers on the scales, "I'm guessing this has something to do with it."

"Bingo," said DiDe, "there's a simple way to save your friends here, or at least one of them. At the start of the game, Calvin will be stretched and Liza will be compressed. To stop one torture device, simply tilt one of the scales. Calvin's machine is connected to the left scale while Liza's is connected to the right. When the scales are balanced, the machines will stop, but…as soon as one of the scales are out of balance…"

She then summoned a slug of led, no bigger than a pearl, and dropped it into the left scale, causing the rollers to pull on the chains, while the iron bars began to press down, leading to both siblings to shout in pain as Calvin was stretched and Liza crushed.

At the same time a digital timer appeared above the scales and began counting down from 10:00.

"It doesn't take much to throw the scales out of balance," said DiDe, "while not much more to correct the balance. It's just a question of finding that balance." She then handed a scalpel to Kairi.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Kairi asked as she looked at the scalpel in her hands.

"Cut her throat!" shouted Mercedes, "it's what I'd do!"

"Then it's a good thing you're not Kairi," said DiDe, "for only she can correct the balance."

"With what? Blood?" Kairi asked. She then blinked in surprised as she answered her own question, "oh, I get it. You want me to bleed to death to save Calvin and Liza."

"Bingo," said DiDe, "but don't spend yourself too much on this round, you've still got two more friends to save. But considering how badly your hands are mangled from the previous two rounds, I suggest you get someone to help you with the actual cutting."

Just then two leg slugs dropped onto the right scale, tipping the balance in favor of Liza's machine, while the rollers pulled a little more on Calvin and the iron bars pressed a little more on Liza.

"It doesn't actually matter whose scales have more weight, they'll both suffer until the scales are balanced. But more slugs will be added ever thirty seconds, so I suggest you start spilling blood in Calvin's favor."

"You monster!" shouted Kairi, yet with great reluctance, she managed to grip the scalpel and cut her right arm below the wrist without damaging any veins. She then dripped the blood into the container on the left scale, tipping the balance towards Calvin.

Kairi rushed over and dripped some blood onto the right container, then back to the left to try and regain the balance.

"How long does she have to do this?!" exclaimed Trillian.

"Until the clock runs out," said DiDe, "or if she can keep the balance for a full minute."

"But you keep adding slugs every thirty seconds!" said Asuna, "and more slugs each time!"

"Ah, but she can keep the balance for thirty seconds if she bleeds enough," said DiDe, "and she will bleed, if only to keep her friends safe."

"Don't worry about me!" said Kairi as she cut herself again to produce more blood, "I'll be fine!"

"You'll run out of blood at this rate!" snapped Asuna.

"End this, DiDe!" snapped Kirito.

"You want it to end?" DiDe asked, "okay, I'll end it!"

At that a small shower of slugs began to fall into the left container, tipping the balance all the way down on that scale. More and more slugs fell into the container, until there was several kilograms at least.

"Now she'll have to kill herself to save her friends," said DiDe, "she'll have to give up so much blood to correct the balance, she'll pass out from the drop in blood pressure. Oh, and if anyone interferes by spilling their own blood into the container, or even so far as to manually balance the scales, the siblings die instantly.

"Don't…do it!" shouted Calvin as he gritted his teeth against the agony of the strain on his arms and legs, "we're…not…worth…it!"

"You…I…FUUUUUCK!" shouted Liza against the pressure on her ribs and arms.

"Oh, quit your bellyaching," said DiDe, "you're not in that much pain, yet."

Just then everyone heard the sound of a muffled explosion off in another part of the dungeon.

"Now what?" Klien asked.

Everyone then heard another explosion, followed by another and another.

"What are you up to now, DiDe!?" exclaimed Asuna.

"I could ask the same thing of you!" snapped DiDe.

Just then the door to the hallway blew off its hinges, at which Leafa flew into the room. "Everyone!" she shouted, "sorry I'm late!"

"YOU!" shouted DiDe, "how the hell did you get back here?! There's a no teleport rule in effect!"

"I know," said Leafa as she smiled mischievously, "and so do the others."

"What others?" DiDe asked suspiciously.

"The three-hundred Sylphs, Salamanders and Cait Siths whom came to Hell House with me," said Leafa, "as well as a few Leprechauns, Spriggans, Undines, Gnomes, Pookas and Imps. They're outside the dungeon right now."

"You brought three-hundred?" an impressed Asuna asked.

"I would have brought more if there was time," said Leafa, "I called everyone on my contact list and they called their contacts, and so on and so forth."

"Really," said a disbelieving DiDe, "and just where are these reinforcements of yours? I don't see them."

"They're outside," said Leafa, "networking."

"Networking?" Kairi asked.

"It's really amazing, come to think of it," said Leafa, "turns out a lot of ALO players either go to or are graduates of Miskatonic University, and more than a few of them are Night Scholars."

"Dr. Armitage! She's pulling through for us!" said Mercedes gleefully.

"Lucky us," muttered Beatrice.

"So, they're here, outside the dungeon," said DiDe contemptuously, "and yet not one of them decided to come in with you to help save your friends."

"Oh, they've been a great help," she then pulled up her menu and equipped a metal and crystal wand about the length of a yardstick, the wand was topped with a glowing ruby.

"I had to pull about a million favors to get a few of these," said Leafa, "a one-quest use wand capable of blasting through just about any barrier, either physical or magical, or in this case, that of a hacked dungeon."

"WHAT?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" shouted DiDe, "THIS IS MY HOUSE! MY HOUSE! MY RULES!"

"You can take your rules and shove them up your ass!" shouted Kirito as he successfully picked the lock on the Rack, freeing Calvin, while Xenophon cast an unlocking spell on the Scavenger's Daughter, freeing Liza.

"You! HOW DARE YOU!" bellowed DiDe, "I ought to…" she then blinked and stood still, "just a moment…just a moment…just a moment…" she then went completely still and remained silence.

"I…do you think we broke her?" Silica asked as she cautiously walked up to DiDe and waved a hand in front of the creature's unresponsive face.

"Maybe her buffer's full and needs time to catch up," said Asuna as she healed and bandaged Kairi's cut arms.

"Who cares? Let's just delete her already!" said Mercedes as she readied a wooden steak, then jabbed it towards DiDe's heart. Yet the steak bounced off a barrier with enough force to knock Mercedes onto her backside.

"You alright?" Albion asked as he and Trillian helped Mercedes up.

"This never happened to Buffy," said Mercedes sheepishly.

"Well, we'll worry about deleting DiDe later," said Kirito. He then looked at Leafa, "what about those outside? Can they still help us?"

"They're helping us right now, _Onisan_ ," said Leafa, she then looked at Xenophon, "them and your hacker friends. There's a lot I don't get but the players, hackers and Night Scholars are working together to 'break the curse of Hell House.'"

"What does that mean?" Klien asked.

"It means they're going to hack the hacked dungeon," said Xenophon, "while also tracking the source of the hack; the lab of Foundation X. We find them, we can shut them down."

"And find your bodies," said Kairi to Calvin, Liza, Rachael and Joshua.

"This place isn't exactly real," said Joshua to Calvin and Liza, "well, it is but it isn't."

"It sure as hell feels real to me," said an irate Liza as she felt her cracked ribs.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"Inconceivable!" exclaimed Dr. Remington, "again, those…those…those children have outwitted us again!"

"These are no ordinary children," said Dr. Winchester, "not by far."

"We should destroy them now!" said Dr. Weatherby, "now before their friends in the real world do indeed trace the hack back to us!"

"No, we proceed," said Sugō as he continued to type.

"Did you not just see and hear what happened?!" exclaimed Dr. Winchester, "the brats are on the verge of discovering not only our location, but also sending a group of people capable of who knows what to our location!"

"We should begin preparations to evacuate, just to be on the safe side," said Dr. Remington.

"We're not going anywhere," said Sugō. He then finished typing and hit ENTER, "at least until DiDe's completed her mission."

"You finished her combat software," said Dr. Winchester as he and the others looked at a data readout on one of the screens, "and added more."

"Just what are you up to?" asked Dr. Weatherby.

"Something that will satisfy all," said Sugō as he straightened his glasses, "all of us that is, while Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and their friends, the only satisfaction they'll find is the peace and quiet of the grave."

Just then Dr. Winchester looked at the screens displaying the unconscious Chrissie, Joshua, Calvin, Liza, Rachael and Travis, each of them receiving an injection into their I.V. tubes.

"What is this now?" Dr. Winchester asked.

"A little something to make the game more interesting," said Sugō, "nothing more, nothing less."

"With you, nothing is ever simple," said Dr. Remington.

"All too true, my friend," said Sugō, "all too true."

* * *

… **Hell House…**

"Upgrade Complete!" said DiDe.

"So, you can fight us now?" Kirito asked as he and the others backed away cautiously while readying their weapons.

"That and so much more," said DiDe, "but I'm not going to fight you, not just yet, not while I've got two more of Kairi's friends to play with."

"Chrissie and Travis!" said Liza, "what did you do to them?!"

"The same thing I've done to you and your fellow Splicers," said DiDe, "yes, I know all about Splicers. I know about ADAM, Rapture and that special EVE you so desperately need."

At that Liza and Calvin hastily searched their pockets.

"You don't have your syringes," said DiDe, "they're back in the real world. My creators have analyzed the substance and found it quite fascinating, as well as your augmented biochemistry. Then again, they could have learned all they needed to know from the Foundation X team that actually went to Rapture, but then again, the Foundation has always been compartmentalized when it comes to different projects. Anyway, what's also fascinating is the other EVE that one of you had with you when you fell into the world."

"What other EVE?" Liza asked.

"Normal EVE," said Rachael in a frightened tone, "the kind the rest of Rapture used to keep their Plasmid abilities charged, the kind of EVE that drove an entire city mad."

"You mean one of us had normal EVE on him?" Calvin asked.

"Or her," said Joshua in a suspicious tone as he glared accusingly at Liza and Rachael, "or him," he then glared at Calvin.

"I didn't have any normal EVE on me when we left Rapture!" exclaimed Calvin, "none of us did! We haven't touched that garbage since Dr. Tenenbaum gave us the special EVE."

"Well, one of you had it," said DiDe, "over a dozen syringes in fact. My creators were so fascinated by the stuff, they just gave you all a dose of it to your bodies back in the real world."

"What?!" exclaimed Joshua, Calvin, Liza and Rachael.

"Oh yes, you should be feeling it right now," said DiDe, "and what's more, according to the testimony one of you gave my creators, the normal EVE is far more addictive than the special EVE. In fact, now that you've been exposed to normal EVE again, your addiction has been amplified, at least two fold.

"What's more, now that you're hopped up on normal EVE again, you're well on your way to becoming full blown Splicers, or so the information my creators have says. Then again, I wouldn't know, I'm no scientist."

"Why would they inject us with normal EVE?" Rachael asked, "and why while we're hooked into this…this game?"

"I told you, I'm no scientist," said DiDe, "but one thing they told me is that they're monitoring your brain activity. They're keenly interested in learning how long you lot will last until you go hopelessly insane!" With that she laughed like the demonic creature she was and vanished.

"That fucking, evil bitch! I'll crush her like a Big Daddy!" shouted Calvin.

Just then DiDe reappeared and slapped Calvin across the face, "that's for swearing in my house!" she snapped, "oh, I almost forgot. One of the two humans I've still to play with, they had some of the normal EVE syringes on them when they were introduced into the game."

"What difference does that make?" Kairi asked, "It's not like they could bring the EVE with them into the game."

"Are you so sure about that?" DiDe asked.

"Your clothes," said Asuna to Rachael, Joshua, Calvin and Liza, "are those the clothes you had on while you were still awake?"

"Yeah, so?" asked Liza.

Joshua then reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small piece of polished wood , "my mom brought this with her when she came to Rapture and gave it to me. It's sort of a good luck charm."

"Wish it helped us now," said Calvin.

"Wait, if you had that on you when we had those helmets put on us," said Liza, "then…"

"Then whatever we had on us is with us in the game," said Joshua.

"They must have figured out how to scan not only clothes, but also other objects into a character's avatar," said Beatrice.

"The EVE syringes!" said Liza, "Chrissie or Travis might have some!"

"What the fuck are we waiting for!?" exclaimed Calvin, "let's go get them!"

DiDe then slapped Calvin again, "no swearing! Honestly! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"My mother's dead, thank you fucking much!" snapped Calvin, "now where are Chrissie and Travis?"

"You'll find them soon enough," said DiDe as another corridor appeared, "just follow the screams." With that she vanished, followed by two muffled cries for help.

"Come on!" shouted Rachael urgently as she, Calvin, Liza and Joshua ran into the corridor.

"Wait!" shouted Kirito as he, Asuna, Kairi and the others ran after them.

"Fools! They're running right into DiDe's trap!" said Beatrice irately. "They're going to get themselves and the other two killed trying to save them!"

"I'm not so sure they're going to save Chrissie and Travis just for the sake of friendship," said Asuna.

"I think you're right," said Kairi, "and that's what scares me."

They caught up with Rachael, Joshua, Calvin and Liza as they ran into a fourth pitch black room.

The door slammed shut behind our heroes and allies, followed by a spotlight revealing DiDe, "welcome to the fourth and final round, brave players! It's a little early than I thought, but this is the end, one way or another."

Just then the lights came on in the room, revealing Chrissie and Travis, both strapped to metal chairs with reverse bear traps on their heads.

"You know how this game works, Kairi," said DiDe, "when the timer starts, you've got to find the keys to unlock the reverse bear traps, or else their jaws will be permanently forced open. However, unlike the game so brilliantly created by John Kramer, this game has my own twist."

She then summoned a silver key and levitated it in front of Kairi, "instead of having to cut the key out of someone's digestive track, I'm giving it to you. Go oh, Kairi, take it."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"It's yours, take it!" said DiDe, "I'm not trying to trick you this time."

"And you seriously want me to have the key?" Kairi asked.

"It's part of the game," said DiDe, "it won't start until you take it."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Asuna.

"Me too," said Kirito, "don't take it, Kairi! It's got to be a trap!"

"Oh, it is a trap," said DiDe, "but not one where Kairi has to physically hurt herself. No, this is something else."

"If I don't take the key, you can't start the timers on the reverse bear traps," said Kairi.

"True," said DiDe. She then pulled out a remote, "but I can trigger the traps with this if you refuse to play."

"Then I guess I have no choice," said Kairi as she plucked the key out of the air.

"Now the real game begins," said DiDe as she smiled insidiously, "for that key, while it does fit both locks, it will only work once. Whichever lock you use it on first, the key will then break. You can save one friend this time, only one. Any attempt to pick the locks or remove the traps otherwise will result in the victim's immediate deaths. So, which will it be? The boy or girl?

"Oh, I almost forgot. One of them has the EVE syringes on him or her. If that one dies, then they die like anyone else in ALO. Whatever they have on them disappears as well.

"So, which one will it be, Kairi? The moment of truth has come. Which friend will you save and which one will you allow to die? You've got five minutes to make your choice, five minutes until your soul is forever crushed! Tick tock, Kairi! Tick tock!"

DiDe then vanished, laughing like the vile creature she was as a digital clock appeared and began counting down from 5:00.

* * *

… **Castle Oblivion…**

"What are you doing, child!" exclaimed Columbina as she found Darklight lounging on a couch in one of the rooms of the dark castle, "you've smashed four Keyholes and there are eight to go! Why are you laying about like a three-toed sloth doing nothing?"

"I am not doing nothing," said Darklight in a matter of fact tone, "I am in fact recovering from that bullet wound I received in Wonderland, while enjoying this delightfully delicious dish full of pecan pie," she then held up the plate full of said desert, "while also enjoying the latest Stephen King novel," she then held up said book, "would you like to borrow it when I'm done?"

"You don't have time for this!" snapped Columbina, "you are the Princess of Dark! A minor flesh wound is something you can shrug off in your sleep! Now get back to your mission: Smash open the twelve Keyholes I need smashing! Not sitting around stuffing your face and reading nonsense!"

"Stephen King isn't nonsense!" said Darklight irately, "it's genius. There was so much I never got to do in my old life because I was too young. Now that I'm all grown up, I intend to live a little before you use me to get your revenge on your native universe."

"All things in their proper time," said Columbina, "and now is not the time for idle recreation! Now get off your behind and get back to work, young lady!"

"I've smashed four Keyholes already, I think I've earned a little downtime," said Darklight as she marked her place in her book and stood up, glaring at Columbina, "especially after fighting that mouse with the gold Keyblade. He certainly put up more of a challenge than Sora and his lot, that and getting shot."

"And you'll no doubt face King Mickey again, but not if you spoil yourself on pie and reading!" snapped Columbina, "and you've already healed from getting shot! Now do as you're told or…"

"Or what, you'll find another Princess of Dark?" Darklight asked, "good luck with that." she then sat down and resumed her reading, "Now leave me alone, I'll pick the next world when I'm good and ready."

"Why you…you…ungrateful brat!" snapped Columbina. She then stormed out of the room.

"Dear me, what an outburst," said Darklight to herself.

Downstairs, Columbina stomped her way through the villain's common room, muttering to herself and nearly stepping on several pieces of the new Interocitor.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, lady!" said Insano irately, "you break one piece and we'll have to start over with another new Interocitor."

"And I doubt Leslie would be able to acquire another," said Lady Tremaine.

"Burn in hell!" shouted Columbina as she exited out the other side of the room.

"No thanks, I've been there!" called Dio Brando. "Now where were we?"

"'Insert circuit G-44 into slot Q-19,'" said Sephiroth as he read the instructions, "'then connect wire H-25 to circuit P-07.''"

"Are you sure you're reading those right?" Gaston asked.

"You want to try?" Sephiroth asked, "here, be my guest," he then shoved the instructions towards Gaston, "it's even got pictures and everything."

"Got her!" said Regina from one side of the room.

"Got who?" Young Xehanort asked.

"Kairi!" said Regina as she stepped away from her magic mirror, "I know where she is and what she's doing."

"So your magic mirror found her before we could put the Interocitor together," said Insano, "big deal. The Interocitor is still superior to any magic mirror, superior with SCIENCE!" he then raised his finger triumphantly.

"Well, your science is lagging behind," said a wickedly grinning Regina, "right now Kairi is trapped in an artificial world where she has to make a decision that could rip her soul apart, or so I've been able to tell."

"How can you tell if you just found her?" Young Xehanort asked.

"I've been replaying Kairi's past actions," said Regina as she stepped away from her mirror, revealing a smaller mirror that showed highlights of Kairi ever since she appeared in New Aincrad, while another smaller mirror was filled with gray fog.

"Ah, a clip mirror," said Sephiroth, "brilliant. But I believe the other mirror is broken."

"It's not," said Regina, "it's searching for Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders."

"You're still obsessed with them, aren't you," said Lady Tremaine in an accusing manner, "Columbina said they're lost forever."

"She said no such thing," said Regina, "I trust her world as far as I can throw her with my bare hands. I won't be satisfied until I know for sure that Sora and his companions are dead, no matter how long it takes."

"Well, good luck with that," said Dio Brando, "have fun playing with your mirrors. Now where were we? Oh yeah, connect wire H-25 to circuit P-77."

"Wait! Don't!" shouted Sephiroth as Dio Brando connected the wrong wire to the wrong circuit, earning him a small but painful shock.

"Circuit P-77 leads to a capacitor," said Insano, "one that apparently is already charged.

"Now he tells me," said a singed and hair-raised Dio Brando.

* * *

… **Radiant Garden…**

"It's been too long since we heard anything," said King Mickey as he paced back and forth, "why hasn't the enemy made a move yet?"

"It's not like we can do anything to stop them," said Yuffie in a depressed tone as she sat with her head down, while Leon, Quistis, Queen Minnie, Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, also sat or leaned against the wall with depressed looks on their faces.

"Let's face it, we're done for," said Wakka, "it's the Apocalypse, man."

"There's got to be a way to stop Darklight from smashing any more Keyholes," said King Mickey as he kept pacing, "there's just got to be."

"We're open to suggestions," said Selphie, "and you're gonna wear out the carpet doing that."

"What difference does it make? We're all gonna die soon," said Tidus.

"You're right, what's the difference?" asked Selphie.

Just then they all heard the sound of Donald blabbering nonsense at the top of his lungs, followed by said duck and Goofy running into the room.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" shouted Donald as he ran circles around The King.

"Donald! What is it!?" asked King Mickey.

"Whatever it is, keep it down, will you?" moaned Yuffie as she grabbed a nearby pillow and held it against her ear as she lay down, "can't you see we're all feeling sorry for ourselves?"

"Don't feel sorry for yourselves!" said Goofy, "this is big news!"

"Another world had its Keyhole smashed?" Leon asked in a miserable tone.

"It's about Sora and the others, you emo palooka!" exclaimed Donald.

"What about Sora and the others!?" King Mickey asked.

"I can answer that," said Ansem the Wise as he walked in, carrying a large metal briefcase, "just now Tron alerted me to an incoming transmission from one of the alternate Earths, specifically the one where Sora and his friends went to Hogwarts."

"Who could be calling us from there?" QUeen Minnie asked as Ansem placed the briefcase onto a table and opened it up, revealing a sophisticated laptop. Ansem booted up the laptop.

"I'd prefer to let them make their introductions," said Ansem. He then spoke into the laptop's microphone, "are you ready, Tron?"

"Ready to process, Ansem," said Tron, "communication channel open now!"

A video chat window opened, revealing through some static and distortions, Max Kildare, "Hello?" asked the Indestructible Man, "hello? Are you there?"

"Is that you, Max?" King Mickey asked. He then looked at Ansem, "can't you clear it up?"

"I'm sorry, my friend," said Ansem. "Tron says that there's a lot of subspace disturbance, he's trying to compensate for it."

Just then Andrew and Jill Carpenter appeared on the screen, "hey, you guys!" called Andrew, "how's it going?"

"Oh, we've been better," said Yuffie, "Sora and the gang are off on another big adventure and we're stuck here facing the end of the universe, same old same old Is that your wife, Andrew?"

"I have a name, you know," said Jill irately, "and yes, I am Mrs. Carpenter. Now, are we all going to waste this conference with small talk? Or are we going to talk about Sora and the others?"

"Are they on your world?" King Mickey asked, "We lost contact with them some time ago."

"Haven't heard from them directly for a while either," said Max, "but we think we have an idea what happened to them."

"You know that our BPRD is in contact with alternate versions of The Bureau on multiple Earths, right?" asked Andrew, "Well, we heard from one of our alternates that they heard from one of their alternates about Kairi."

"Kairi?" Quistis asked, "just her? Nothing about Sora and the others?"

"No, just Kairi," said Max, "as far as we can tell, she's alive and well, so to speak."

"What we do know is that Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders were separated from Kairi and are lost somewhere in time and space," said Max, "We've got all our dimensional affiliates looking for them, but considering the infinite possibilities of worlds they could be on…"

"Like looking for a needle in a haystack," said Leon.

"More like a needle in a stack of needles in a haystack," said Jill, "in a field of haystacks that goes on forever."

"But we do have a lead on Kairi," said Max, "we're working on establishing contact with the world she's on. As soon we know more we'll get to work on bringing her home."

"Thank goodness," said King Mickey in a relieved tone, while Queen Minnie and the others looked equally reassured.

"By the way," said Andrew, "any of you know anything about digitizing living matter and vise versa?"

"What's that now?" Ansem asked.

"Well, when we said we knew where Kairi was," said Max hesitantly, "there's a bit of a complication."

"That's putting it mildly," said Jill.

 **The end of Chapter 8**

 _Next chapter finds our heroes racing towards an explosive climax. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	10. Chapter 9: Penultimate Peril

**Before we begin, I'd like to apologize for not updating over the past few weeks. Things have been really crazy, what with the holidays, work and my ovewealming desire to play Fallout 4, and don't worry, I've already got a few ideas for fics involving Fallout.**

 **But the real delay came when I fell down and hurt my hands. I won't go into the details, but needless to say I couldn't use my computer for a few days. But I'm better now and back on track, so let's get going already!**

 _Last time Found our heroes facing the unpleasant truth that one of DiDie's creators was none other than Sugō Nobuyuki, the very same lunatic whom imprisoned Asuna in ALO and tried to dominate the world with mind control. Matters were further complicated when DiDe forced Kairi to suffer twice as much in order to save Calvin and Liza from opposing torture devices. But now Kairi has to chose to save either Chrissie or Travis, for one must die in order for the other to live. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 9: Penultimate Peril**

"Now the real game begins," said DiDe as she smiled insidiously, "for that key, while it does fit both locks, it will only work once. Whichever lock you use it on first, the key will then break. You can save one friend this time, only one. Any attempt to pick the locks or remove the traps otherwise will result in the victim's immediate deaths. So, which will it be? The boy or girl?

"Oh, I almost forgot. One of them has the EVE syringes on him or her. If that one dies, then they die like anyone else in ALO. Whatever they have on them disappears as well.

"So, which one will it be, Kairi? The moment of truth has come. Which friend will you save and which one will you allow to die? You've got five minutes to make your choice, five minutes until your soul is forever crushed! Tick tock, Kairi! Tick tock!"

DiDe then vanished, laughing like the vile creature she was as a digital clock appeared and began counting down from 5:00.

"Is it me or does DiDe forget a lot of important things?" Kairi asked.

"She does seem a bit absent minded," said Yui,

"You're realizing this now?" Asuna asked.

"Uh…I hate to disrupt your symposium on the metal status of an evil A.I.," said Lisbeth, "but aren't you forgetting something?"

At that Kairi looked at Chrissie and Travis, both of whom were franticly trying to get out of their chairs, muffled cries of fear and urgency from their mouths from around the reverse bear traps.

"I didn't forget," said Kairi, "and relax, I'm going to save both of you."

"You heard what DiDe said!" exclaimed Albion, "those traps are gonna go off and kill them and that key you've got will break after one use!"

"I know," said Kairi, "which is why I will use it twice, so to speak."

"Are you alright?" Leafa asked, "did you hurt your head or something?"

"She's just been through a lot," said Trillian, "crushing one hand, electrocution and cutting her arms, it's taking a toll on her mind."

"I'm fine," said Kairi, "I've never been thinking clearer. I knew exactly what to do when DiDe said I had to choose between Chrissie and Travis.

At that the two captive survivors of Rapture struggled and shouted even harder, desperately hoping that Kairi would make her choice before it was too late.

"Well, don't just stand there while letting the time run out for dramatic effect!" exclaimed Klien, "what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ask a question," said Kairi, "does anyone know a duplication spell?"

"Duplication?" Asuna asked. She then smiled with eager understanding, "Oh, I get it."

"Get what?" Kirito asked.

"This," said Kairi as she brought the key over to Asuna, whom chanted a spell and, with a flash of magic, created a second, identical key.

"Wait, can you do that?" Mercedes asked as Asuna and Kairi walked over to the back of the chairs and simultaneously unlocked the reverse bear traps, pulling them off from Chrissie and Travis.

"Oh, thank god!" exclaimed Travis as Kairi and Asuna freed him and Chrissie from the chairs, "thank you, Jesus!"

"I thought you were an atheist," said Chrissie, "if you should thank anyone, thank Kairi. She's the one who saved us after all." She then looked at Kairi, "thank you so much, I owe you, big time."

"I'm just glad you and the others are alright," said Kairi.

"You may think that now," said DiDe as she appeared next to Kairi, "but not for much longer."

"Haven't you had enough, lady?!" snapped Klien.

"Why should I stop when the game is almost at its climax?" DiDe asked.

"Because the game already climaxed, you malfunctioning bag of bits and bytes!" said Felix, "Kairi saved all six of her friends without killing any of them!"

"Game's over, bitch!" said Mercedes.

"Oh, really?" DiDe asked as she smiled insidiously, "tell it to them," she then indicated Calvin, Liza, Rachael and Joshua as they glared coldly at Chrissie and Travis.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Chrissie asked.

"Don't insult us by playing dumb, Chrissie," said Rachael, "you know what we want and we mean to have it."

"That thing said one of you has some EVE syringes," said Joshua in a slightly unsteady tone as he pointed at DiDe.

"You wouldn't happen to be holding out on us, Chrissie?" Liza asked, "or you, Travis?"

"Of course not!" snapped Chrissie, "I'd share my EVE if I had any to spare. But look at me! I'm in the same kettle of fish you lot are."

"What is she talking about?" Silica asked.

"Withdraw symptoms of the drugs," said Xenophon.

"Haven't any of you noticed the paleness and clamminess of their skin?" Beatrice asked, "the sweating, the contracted eyes, the random twitching of their hands? All signs of withdraw from an addictive drug."

"Good grief, you're right," said Kirito as he looked at the Rapture survivors.

"How'd it get so bad?" Kairi asked, "you were fine just a moment ago?"

"That thing said we were injected with normal EVE," said Rachael, "and if we don't get more soon, we'd all go crazy."

"And one of us brought plenty of EVE into this artificial world," said Joshua, "someone who is being a selfish bastard!"

"I'm not selfish!" snapped Travis as he scratched the back of his left hand.

"Then share with us, Travis," said Liza as she, Calvin, Joshua and Rachael closed in on him, "share and share alike."

"And let you parasites suck me dry!?" shouted Travis as his left hand crackled with electricity, "I think not!" he then aimed his hand at Liza and blasted her with a bolt of lightning, sending her across the room where she collapsed twitching to the floor.

Kairi, Asuna, Kirito and the others could only watch as Joshua, Calvin and Rachael rush at Travis. He managed to hit Joshua with another blast of lighting before Calvin and Rachael tackled him to the ground.

"Get off of me, you blood sucking freaks!" shouted Travis. He then blasted both Calvin and Rachael with a Sonic Boom that sent them flying across the room. Travis got up and used Telekinesis on both to levitate them up into the air, then slammed them both together, before dropping them to the floor.

But then Liza threw and hit Travis on the head with one of the disarmed reverse bear traps, the cold iron hitting him on the forehead and knocking him to the floor in a dazed heap.

"Is he…?" a horrified Silica asked.

"No," said Liza as she helped Calvin, Joshua and Rachael back up, "but he'll soon wish he was."

"Stop this! Now!" shouted Chrissie, "what the fuck's wrong with you people!?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong with us!" shouted Rachael, "we're turning into fucking Splicers! That's what's wrong with us!"

"You're just going through drug withdraw," said Asuna, "I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but…"

"You don't know anything about our pain!" shouted Liza as she nearly lost her balance and leaned against the wall, "right now I feel like my whole body's on fire and freezing at the same time!"

"I feel like I'm half drowned!" shouted Calvin.

"I feel like I'm being eaten alive!" shouted Joshua.

"I feel like there's maggots eating their way through my brain!" shouted Rachael.

"Well, I feel pretty lousy myself!" said Chrissie, "but not enough to make me lose control! Any suffering can be overcome!"

"But Travis isn't suffering," said Liza as she regained her balance and stood straight, walking towards Travis, whom was slowly but surely pulling himself together.

"He doesn't have _any_ symptoms," said Calvin as he, Liza, Joshua and Rachael stood around him, "I'll bet, aside from one dozy of a headache, he feels perfectly fine. I wonder why that is?"

"He's not fine! His hand itched," said Calvin.

"Damn…right my…hand itches," said Travis as he groggily pushed himself to a seating position and tried to stand up, "I probably touched something here that I'm allergic to."

"Bullshit!" snapped Calvin as he pushed Travis down, "you've got the EVE and you're holding out on us!" He then searched one of Travis's pockets and pulled out an EVE syringe.

"You _have_ been holding out on us!" shouted Rachael. She then punched Travis in the face, breaking his nose.

"NO! Give them back!" cried Travis as he ignored the blood dripping from his nose, "I need those!"

"We need them more!" said Liza.

"Where'd you get them!?" Joshua asked irately, "how long have you had these!?"

"Tell us before I rip your ears off!" shouted Rachael.

"It was back in Rapture," said Travis as he wiped the blood from his nose with his sleeve and stood up, "in The Proving Grounds, where Chrissie, Tess and I were going after the dimensional doorway device. I was hurt and told Chrissie and Tess to go on without me. I lost my remaining special EVE syringes, but there was a Circus of Values nearby."

"So you injected yourself with regular EVE," said Kairi, at which Travis nodded in acknowledgement.

"But we can't do that!" said Chrissie, "Dr. Tenenbaum told us that normal EVE would only make our addiction worse and turn us into Splicers!"

"I know!" shouted Travis, "but what could I do at the time!?"

"Waited until Chrissie or one of the others came back," said Kairi, "or something, anything other than giving in to addiction!"

"You've never been addicted to a drug, Kairi," said Xenophon, "you don't know how powerful and dominating a sickness addiction can be."

"You sound like you know from experience," said Beatrice.

"I told you all that I'm semi retired from the Night Scholars," said Xenophon, "what I didn't tell you is that the mission that made me walk away was the mission that took away my ability to walk. I lost both legs below the knee and have been wheelchair bound for seven years, during which I became addicted to pain killers and alcohol, a dangerous combination for anyone."

"But you're not anymore, right?" Trillian asked.

"I went to A.A. and other support groups," said Xenophon, "but the desire, the gnawing need to pop pills and take a drink, I'll always have it. Some days I can completely ignore it, others it's nearly all I can think about. The creation of VRMMORPG's helped things a lot. For the first time in years I could walk and so much more.

"My condition and addictions left me an antisocial where I wound up driving away my friends, my colleagues, even my wife and children, I was such an asshole. I nearly made my doctors and caregivers give up on me, and I wasn't that much of a social person to begin with, long story. But then I discovered the Full Dive system and all its wonders."

Xenophon then looked at Kirito and Asuna, "very few know of this, but I was one of the first to have a fully functional Nerve Gear, a gift from Kayaba Akihilo himself."

"No way," said an astonished Klien, "that murdering psychopath helped you out?"

"Were you one of the players trapped in SAO?" Kirito asked.

"I never got a chance to preorder a copy of SAO," said Xenophon, "just having the Nerve Gear and being able to walk again, even in a limited virtual environment, helped me pull my life back together. I was able to resume my work with The Night Scholars to a certain extent; I couldn't run around saving the world, but I could help with research and development in ways of defeating the darkness.

"Of course, I was devastated when I heard what Kayaba did. I nearly fell off the wagon and started drinking and taking painkillers, but Dr. Armitage herself reassured me that I was stronger than drugs, stronger than depression, stronger than the darkness that threatened to claim me.

"I was able to keep going, one day at a time, throwing myself into my work and healing the rifts with my friends and family. I was so absorbed with my own life, I completely missed the release of the AmuSphere system and launch of Alfheim Online.

"But when you exposed what Sugō' Nobuyuki had done, Kirito, I thought that was the end of VRMMORPG's, until you gave everyone the means to create their own games, leading me to establishing myself as a wizard in Forgotten Realms Online. The rest is history."

"That's a very touching story, man," said Joshua, "but there's still the fact that this mother fucker!" he pointed at Travis, "HE's been holding out on us!"

"He's more than holding out," said Rachael, "he's more along towards becoming a Splicer than we are!"

"I am not becoming a Splicer!" shouted an outraged Travis as he scratched the back of his hand again, "I've got this under control!"

"The fuck you do!" shouted Calvin as he grabbed Travis's arm and held it up, revealing a large red welt on the back of the hand.

"A mutation mark," said Chrissie, "they start small but soon they'll be all over. It won't be long before you start raving like those mad creatures we left behind in Rapture."

"I am not a Splicer!" shouted Travis, "and I'm not raving! If anyone's raving, it's you! All of you! You're all crazy! You all want to kill me! You want to rip out my insides and wear my skin like a dress! Well, I won't let you!" he then reached into another pocket and pulled out a second syringe.

"HE'S GOT MORE!" bellowed Joshua as he, Calvin, Lisa and Rachael tackled Travis and ripped his pockets open, spilling half a dozen syringes onto the floor.

"NO! THEY'RE MINE!" raged Travis as he and the others began fighting over the syringes.

"Stop it! You're all going to kill yourselves!" shouted Chrissie, yet her words fell on deaf ears as the five of them continued to fight.

"Well, Kairi?" DiDe asked, "what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked in an accusing manner.

"I can end this here and now," said DiDe, "I can end the game and allow all of you to log out. I can even tell my creators to return you to the real world, and I'll bet you, six of one or half a dozen of another, that they will.

"But you have to pick one of your friends to die. Right here and now. Choose who dies so everyone else can live. As for the five who wake up, there's plenty of real EVE waiting for them"

"That's right!" said Liza as she and the others stopped fighting, "one of us dies and the rest go free!"

"This stuff isn't even real!" shouted Joshua as he tossed the syringes away.

"But the real stuff is there, back with our bodies!" said Rachael, "All we have to do is kill one of us." She then looked at Travis, "he's already part Splicer! Better to kill him now before he goes on a gibbering rampage!"

"Do it now while he's still sane," said Calvin, "while he's still human."

"Better dead than a Splicer," said Liza.

"You bastards!" snapped Travis, "after all we've been through!"

"No one is killing anyone!" snapped Kairi, "we're not letting DiDe get the better of us."

"But he's a Splicer!" snapped Rachael.

At that Chrissie slapped Rachael, "so am I! So are all of us! We stopped being human the moment we first injected ourselves with Plasmids. But just because we're no longer human, doesn't mean we have to sacrifice our humanity, all to satisfy the sick, twisted desires of a bunch of sick, twisted fucks!"

"Yeah, remember the real enemy!" said Kairi, "Columbina and her Foundation X allies!"

"And that sick, twisted fuck who created DiDe," said Xenophon.

"Sugō Nobuyuki," said Kirito.

"No way we're playing his games anymore," said Kairi. She then grabbed the syringes of EVE, threw them down and stepped on them until they broke, spilling the blue fluids across the floor.

"Oh, you're no fun anymore," pouted DiDe.

"You were never fun to begin with," said Kairi.

"Says you," said DiDe. She then smiled insidiously, "then again, my sense of fun may have just gotten a reprieve. My creators, specifically Sugō Nobuyuki, he just finished and installed my combat software."

DiDe then summoned a black and gray saber with a wickedly hooked tip and assumed a fighting stance, "I may not have broken your spirit, Kairi, but I'll be damned before I let you back into the real world alive!"

"That's rich, considering that you're supposed to be from Hell," said Kairi as she summoned her Keyblade, "you wanna fight? Let's fight!" With that she and DiDe rushed at each other and began exchanging blows, their weapons sparking on each impact that was so fast, they were little more than blurs.

"Look at them go!" said an impressed Kirito as he and the others watched.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Chrissie asked.

"No, this is Kairi's fight," said Asuna, "to interfere would be an insult."

Just then Kairi and DiDe broke apart from their fight, stopping a few paces from each other. Kairi was breathing heavily and scratched in a few places, while DiDe looked as if she had barely exhorted herself at all.

"Not bad, Kairi," said DiDe smugly, "not bad at all."

"You're not so bad yourself, for a simulation," said Kairi as she wiped sweat from her brow.

"I'm way more than a simulation," said DiDe, "I'm the one who is going to help Foundation X take over this pathetic world."

"Not if I can help it!" said Kairi. She then rushed at DiDe again and the two resumed their battle, exchanging more sparking blows, yet the creature had a slight advantage as more and more of her attacks got past Kairi's Keyblade and delivered minor wounds.

But then DiDe grabbed Kairi's arm with her tail and jerked Kairi forward, knocking Kairi off balance and forcing her to drop her Keyblade, which vanished before it hit the floor, while at the same time pulling Kairi in and stabbing her in the torso.

"NO!" shouted Asuna as DiDe pushed Kairi off of her black saber. She ran forward and caught Kairi as she collapsed.

"You cheating bitch!" shouted Klien as he and the others readied their weapons.

"My house, my rules!" said DiDe. She then accelerated and attacked Klien, whom barely got his katana up in time to block a devastating attack that sent him crashing into the wall.

DiDe then rushed at Agil and Lisbeth, whom managed to keep their balance as DiDe attacked them. The creature then lashed at Silica with her tail, knocking the young Cait Sith to the wall.

"Eat dragon's fire, you fiend!" shouted Xenophon as he aimed his staff and blasted a stream of fire at DiDe, whom opened her mouth wider than any humanoid creature should be able to and swallowed the flames without so much as sweating a drop.

"Hell is hotter than any dragon's fire," said DiDe smugly. She then spat a stream of even hotter fire at Xenophon, whom tried to cast a deflective shield, but it failed and he was consumed by the fire. When the flames died out, there was no trace of Xenophon at all.

"Oh my God! You killed him!" shouted Mercedes. Screaming with rage, she rushed at DiDe, intending to stab the creature in the heart with one of her wooden steaks. DiDe merely stabbed Mercedes in the heart with her black saber, causing Mercedes to stop in her tracks and vanish in a burst of crystal polygons.

DiDe then rushed at and stabbed Albion and Trillian, causing them to vanish in crystal polygons before they could even get their weapons up.

"That's four dead," said DiDe, "and soon to be five," she then looked at Leafa, whom was casting Heal spell after Heal spell on Kairi, yet it did little more than staunch the flow of blood from Kairi's wound.

"Leafa…get…get out of here," gasped Kairi as she tried to stand up and summon back her Keyblade, yet was too weak to even sit up.

"No! I won't let this thing hurt you anymore!" shouted Leafa as she stood up and drew her sword, "and I won't let it hurt anyone else!"

"Brave words," said DiDe, "brave and foolish!" she then rushed at Leafa faster than the blond Sylph could react and prepared to cut her head off.

But then there was the flash and crash of metal on metal. Both DiDe and Leafa blinked in shock as Kirito stood in front of Leafa, blocking DiDe's black saber with his two swords.

"Get away from my sister, you psycho program!" shouted Kirito as he shoved DiDe back by sheer force of his blades on hers.

"My creators often wondered about Sword Art Online survivors," said DiDe, "especially those who spent the majority of the game fighting to open up each Floor. One would have to be lacking a basic survival instinct to want to risk their lives against increasingly powerful monsters."

"It was either that or resign ourselves to living out our lives in a fake world," said Asuna as she stood next to Kirito with her rapier ready, "while our real bodies atrophied away. I admit, it wouldn't have been so bad, especially if you had someone you cared about to live with, but yeah, we did what we had to do to win back our real lives."

"Which is why we have to keep fighting," said Kirito, "to stop wicked men like your creators from ruining innocent lives, like Kairi's."

"Don't get me started on innocence," said DiDe, "you want to know why evil is so intent on destroying innocence? I'll tell you, because it's fun!"

"Which is why we're going to send you back to hell where you belong!" said Asuna.

"Bold words, Asuna the Flash," said DiDe as she moved into a fighting stance, "if you and your beloved Black Swordsman Kirito wish to die so badly, it'd be my pleasure to grand you death!" she then rushed at Kirito and Asuna so fast she was little more than a black blur.

Kirito and Asuna rushed in as well and the three met in a fury of blades and sparks that the human eye could barely follow.

"This is insane!" said Lisbeth as she and Agil helped Klien and Silica back up, "all we wanted to do was help Kairi and get some XP and items."

"And now four of our friends are dead," said Silica as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"It's just like back in SAO," said Agil.

"No, not like in SAO," said Yui, "they didn't die. Trust me; Xenophon, Mercedes, Albion and Trillian are alive."

"How can you be so sure?" Lisbeth asked.

"Because I am," said Yui, "Xenophon's hacker friends, they restored some of the safety protocols to the dungeon. We can still feel pain, but we won't die."

"But Kairi still can," said Lisbeth, "she's really here, remember?"

"How is she, by the way?" Klien asked as he looked at Kairi and Leafa.

"I've stopped the bleeding for now," said Leafa, "but she needs more than healing magic and items. We've got to get her out of the game and back to the real world before her mind decides that she's really dying and she really does die."

"And before DiDe decides to go after her again," said Lisbeth.

"Don't worry about that," said Klien, "if I know Kirito and Asuna, and I knew them pretty well, they'll have DiDe vanquished in a heartbeat or two."

But then the fight ended, leaving DiDe scratched and bleeding from over a dozen minor wounds, while Kirito and Asuna lay on the ground, bleeding from dozens of wounds each, while DiDe kicked their swords out of reach.

"MAMA! PAPA!" shouted Yui as she flew towards her in-game parents, only to be idly swatted away by DiDe.

"I'm so glad we had this battle," said DiDe as she looked at Kirito and Asuna as they struggled to get back up, "really, I am. My wounds only prove that there's still a ways to go for my creators to make me perfect."

"You'll never be perfect!" said Kirito as he and Asuna helped each other stand on unsteady feet, "there'll always be something higher, something that'll always be out of your reach!"

"And don't forget, you were made by humans," said Asuna, "the most imperfect beings on Earth!"

"True, but some humans are less imperfect than others," said DiDe smugly. "I may not be able to kill you for real now, but by the time you're able to log back in, it'll be too late to save Kairi," she raised her black saber, "and enjoy the real world as you know it, it's gonna change _real_ soon!" she laughed at her own pun as she rushed at Kirito and Asuna.

"NO!" shouted Leafa as DiDe aimed her saber at Kirito's heart. But the point of the blade stopped a millimeter from contact.

"Huh?" Kirito asked as he realized that DiDe was frozen in place. He stepped to side, just as DiDe resumed her lunge, overbalancing and falling flat on her face.

"What the home?!" exclaimed DiDe as she picked herself off. "Sorry," she said to Kirito, "Meant to do that. Where was I? Oh yeah, taking your digital life!"

Screaming with battle lust, DiDe rushed at Kirito again, only to pass right through him as her form flickered and briefly changed color.

"What is this!?" exclaimed DiDe, "why is this…" that's as far as she got before she began spouting gibberish.

"What's happening to her?" Agil asked.

"Either she's attempting to speak Venusian," Beatrice asked, "or our hacker friends are working their mojo."

* * *

… **The Real World…**

"We've been hacked!?" exclaimed Dr. Remington as he and the others saw red warning windows on all the computer screens.

"Impossible!" said Dr. Weatherby, "Foundation X has the best computer security ever created!"

"Do you doubt your eyes?!" shouted Dr. Winchester, "our security has been compromised! Not only is DiDe being taken apart bit by bit, Hell House is also being deconstructed. And as if to add insult to injury, our external security has been compromised as well!"

A screen showing a view from a security camera showed several unconscious guards, while another view showed a team of black-suit special ops battling and overcoming more guards, while a third screen showed Dr. Armitage and several other people entering the building.

"It doesn't matter," said Sugō, "I'm sure you Foundation X types will have the situation resolved momentarily."

"And just how do you expect us to do that?!" snapped Dr. Winchester.

"With those fantastic Gaia Memories of yours," said Sugō, "just pop one into your bodies and become some kind of horrific monster that'll tear those invading fools to pieces within seconds."

At that Dr. Remington pushed up the sleeves of his business suit-like lab coat, then opened the collar, "I have no Living Connector."

"None of us do," said Dr. Weatherby, "we were never selected to become Dopants."

"There's only one thing we can do now," said Dr. Winchester as he went to one of the computer terminals and activated a program, summoning a large shimmering gray doorway, "evacuate."

"With all relevant data of course," said Dr. Remington as he connected a portable hard drive to the main computers and began downloading, while the various technicians began an orderly retreat through the doorway.

"What?" asked a disbelieving Sugō, "you're running away without a fight? Without destroying those fools online?"

"We have what we originally came for, mostly," said Dr. Remington as the hard drive finished downloading. He placed it in a metal briefcase, "enough to carry on somewhere else."

"As for Kairi and her companions," said Dr. Weatherby, "as for Columbina's wishes that she be destroyed, we can say that we tried."

"Her wrath will be legendary, but we're under contract with the Foundation," said Dr. Winchester, "she can't touch us."

"So it's away from this world and on to the next project," said Dr. Remington.

"Well then," said Sugō in a thoughtful manner, "a choice between exile on another world or spend the rest of my life in prison, I prefer exile." With that he started towards the doorway.

"I don't think so," said Dr. Remington as he pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Sugō, "you're not part of Foundation X and never were."

"You were just a means to an end," said Dr. Winchester, "and expendable asset."

"And your usefulness has long expired," said Dr. Weatherby, "farewell." With that the trio of dark scientists stepped through the doorway, which vanished after them.

"BASTARDS!" shouted Sugō, "ungrateful bastards! How dare they betray me like this after all I did for them!?" He then saw the security cameras showing the special ops team securing the room where Chrissie and the other Rapture survivors lay, followed by Dr. Armitage and her entourage.

"Then again," said Sugō as he smiled with mad glee, "I may be able to turn this around." He turned back to the main computer and began typing rapidly.

* * *

… **Hell House…**

"I may be glitching up like there's no tomorrow," said DiDe as she managed to stabilize herself for the moment, "But I can still complete my primary function! I can still kill Kairi!"

"We won't give you the chance!" shouted Chrissie as she levitated one of the chairs and threw it at DiDe, whom barely dodged it.

"Let's fuck her up!" shouted Rachael as she grabbed a rusting piece of metal and rushed at DiDe, while Joshua and the others also found blunt objects and rushed at DiDe. The creature managed to force them away from her, only for Liza to hit her with a blast of ice, freezing her legs to the floor.

"I've got a game for you, bitch!" shouted Travis, "it's called 'Let's Kill The Demon Bitch Who Likes To Torture Innocent People!" he then summoned a tornado that lifted DiDe into the air and tossed her to the floor hard.

"You really need to work on your imagination," said Lisbeth.

"I thought it was a good name," said Travis irately.

At that DiDe bellowed a bloodcurdling roar and lashed out with a wave of purple fire that hit everyone left standing, sapping them of their energy and collapsing them to the floor.

"I will not be defeated by a bunch of weak, pathetic, ugly bags of mostly water!" shouted DiDe, "I am superior to anything organic! I am the apotheosis artificial intelligence! I am perfection personified! I am…!"

"Shut Up!" shouted Felix, whom had withstood the energy sapping flames behind his shield. He then grabbed one of the disarmed reverse bear traps and threw it at DiDe, hitting her on the head and knocking her to the ground.

"You want death?!" shouted Felix as he grabbed the other reverse bear trap and ran up to the disoriented DiDe, "you want pain and suffering! Here! EAT IT!" he then slammed the iron contraption into DiDe's face, then hit her again and again, "EAT IT TILL YOU CHOKE, YOU SICK, TWISTED FUCK!"

Bellowing with rage through a mouthful of broken teeth and broken cheek and jaw bones, DiDe blasted Felix with a stream of demonic fire, knocking him into the air and onto Beatrice.

"She's…she's unstoppable!" said a horrified Lisbeth, "how do we kill her?"

"You can't," said DiDe as she stood up, her form flickering and distorting again, "I am invincible."

"No you're not!" said Yui as she stood up in her human form, glaring defiantly at DiDe, "not so long as there are good people willing to fight and die in order to keep the light going in the face of the darkness!"

At that DiDe laughed like the out of control monster she was, "oh really?" she asked as she walked up to Yui, "and what's an obsolete mental health program like you going to do? Huh? Well? What's a child like you going to do? Bite my ankles?"

"I'm going to stand here and do nothing," said Yui as she held her hands behind her back, smiling innocently.

"You're what?" a confused DiDe asked.

"That's right, I'm gonna stand right here," said Yui, "and let my big sister do the real work."

"Programs don't have sisters," said DiDe, "Programs don't have families at all." That's as far as she got before Kairi got behind her and stabbed her in the back with her Keyblade, the tip of said Keyblade piercing and exiting through DiDe's digital black heart.

"Go to hell, DiDe!" shouted Kairi as she pulled her Keyblade out of the creature's back. DiDe gave a surprised grunt and turned around to look at Kairi.

"Inconceivable," said DiDe as Kairi swing her Keyblade and cut the creature's head off. Both pieces fell to the floor and shattered into crystal polygons.

"Is she dead?" Silica asked as she and the others recovered and stood up.

"Derezzed," said Beatrice remorselessly.

Just then the walls around them flickered, distorted and vanished, leaving our heroes and allies atop the hill as the thick, lightning-flashing clouds boiled away.

"Well, that was a little anticlimactic," said Lisbeth as she dusted her clothes off, "But all in all, I think we had fun."

"Fun?" asked Klien, "Fun?! That was nuts!"

"At least none of us died," said Asuna, "be thankful for that, and speaking of which," she then walked up to Yui, "that was both incredibly brave and incredibly stupid what you just did, Yui-chan."

"That manic could have destroyed you," said Kirito as he walked up to her, "how do you think your mother and I would have felt if something happened to you?"

"I know it was risky, mama, papa," said Yui, "but I had to do something. Someone had to stand up to that bully."

"I'm glad she did," said Kairi as she walked over, "considering how crappy I was feeling just now, I wasn't sure I'd be able to sneak up on DiDe without a distraction."

"Speaking of which," said Asuna, "how are you feeling now?"

"Never better," said Kairi, "whatever was hurting me and all of us, it went away when Hell House vanished."

"How did that happen, by the way?" Felix asked.

"You can thank Xenophon's hacker friends," said Mercedes as she walked up to our heroes and allies.

"You're alright!" said an overjoyed Felix.

"I told you so," said Yui smugly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Mercedes, "So is Xenophon. He called me just now and told me to log back in so I could give a message," she then looked at Chrissie and the other survivors, "hold on to your asses, it's about to get a bit bumpy."

"What?" Chrissie asked, just as she, Joshua, Rachael, Calvin, Liza and Travis all vanished.

"What happened?" Kairi asked.

"Dr. Armitage's team has secured the Foundation X lab and has Sugō Nobuyuki in custody," said Mercedes.

"I hope they hogtied the molesting prick," said Asuna grimly.

"Me too," said Mercedes, "anyway, Dr. Armitage figured out how to log out Chrissie and her group. They should be waking up and receiving medical care by now."

"What about Kairi?" Yui asked, "how's she going to get back to the real world?"

"That's coming," said Mercedes, "the team from the Night Scholars, they're having a little trouble figuring out how to operate the machine that digitized Kairi."

"Can't they get one of the Foundation X brains to tell them?" Leafa asked.

"They all got away except for Sugō," said Mercedes, "or so Xenophon told me."

"How would he know?" Asuna asked, "how does he know any of this? I thought he was retired?"

"You never really retire from The Night Scholars," said Beatrice. "Now, if you all will excuse me, I have to log off." She then brought up her menu and selected the logout feature.

"That's it?" Leafa asked, "you're leaving just like that?"

"What else is there to say except for goodbye?" asked Beatrice, "so goodbye, farewell, amen and all that jazz." She then hit the logout button and vanished.

"Yeah, I've gotta go too," said Felix, "I've been online too much today as it is," he then looked at Kairi, Kirito, Asuna and the others, "it's been great, real great, hope to do it again someday." With that he logged out and vanished.

"I've got to go too," said Mercedes, "but this isn't goodbye forever, not by a long shot." She then looked at Mercedes, "Xenophon told me that you'll know how to get back to the real world when the time is right. Don't ask me what that means, I'm in the dark as much as you are."

"I understand," said Kairi, "and thank you, you and the others, for everything."

"You're welcome," said Mercedes. She then looked at Kirito and Asuna, "next time, though, we do things in Sunnydale. Oh, before I go, Xenophon said that the lab is in Shinjuku, he'll email you the address so you can meet with Kairi for real." With that she logged out and vanished.

"Shinjuku," said Kirito, "the enemy was really right in our backyard and no one ever knew."

"But we knew," said Kairi, "and we stopped them before they could unleash DiDe and whatever hellish plans they had on the world." She then blinked in surprise, "Xenophon was right, I do know what to do." With that she swiped the air with her left fore and middle finger, bringing up a simple menu that had only the logout feature. She pressed the button and a second window popped up.

 **ARE YOU READY TO LOGOUT?**

 **YES NO**

"I will be in a minute," said Kairi. She then looked at Kirito, Asuna, Leafa, Yui and the others, "this is it. Thank you all for everything!"

"Like we could abandon a family member in trouble," said Asuna as she, Kirito and Yui smiled warmly.

"Wait, family?" asked Klien.

"Yui-chan did say that she an Kairi are sisters now," said Kirito.

"She was serious?" Lisbeth asked, "then…that must mean…"

"That Kirito and Asuna are Kairi's parents, sort of," said Leafa as she too smiled warmly.

"I barely remember my real parents," said Kairi, "so, if you'll take the job, I guess I can call you mom and dad." She then looked at Leafa, "and I guess you're my aunt."

"What?! I'm too young to be an aunt!" said a slightly whining Leafa.

"You're already my aunt," said Yui. She then walked up to Kairi, "if this works and you get back to the real world, then…"

"Then someday you'll be able to go there too," said Kairi, "and we really will be sisters."

"I can hardly wait," said Yui as she and Kairi hugged. Kairi then hugged Leafa, shook hands with Lisbeth, Silica, Agil and Klien, then hugged Asuna and Kirito.

"This is it," said Kairi, "goodbye, everyone, and thank you for everything!" She then looked at Asuna and Kirito, "And I'll see you in the real world soon." She then pressed YES and vanished.

"Now there goes a strange girl if I ever saw one," said Agil.

"And what a story this will make to everyone at work," said Klien.

Just then everyone heard the sound of dozens of people shouting with joy, then saw dozens of Sylphs, Salamanders and Cait Siths flying towards them.

"Well, you'll get a chance to practice your story on them," said Lisbeth, "as for me, I've got to go. See ya, everyone!" with that she logged out and vanished.

"I gotta go too," said Silica, while Agil and Klien nodded in agreement, then the three of them logged out.

"Someone's gotta tell them," said Leafa.

"Thanks for volunteering," said Asuna as she and Kirito pulled up their logout screens.

"And I think I left the light on back at Milliways," said Yui as she switched to her pixy form and flew off, while Kirito and Asuna logged out, leaving Leafa alone to face the oncoming horde of eagerly curious fairies.

* * *

… **The Real World…**

Just as Kazuto finished stretching the stiffness out of his limbs, his phone rang. He recognized the caller ID as belonging to Samantha's, "Hello, Samantha. Everything's okay now."

"I'm afraid it isn't quite okay yet, Kazuto," said Samantha gravely, "I'm sending a car to pick you and Asuna up and take you to the lab immediately."

"Why?" a concerned Kazuto asked, "What's happened?"

"I fear that while the main battle has been won," said Samantha, "Kairi is far from out of danger. I fear that the real battle has only just begun."

 **The End of Chapter 9**

 _Next chapter finds the final battle for Kairi's existence taking place in the real world as Kazuto and Asuna come face to face with a demon from their past. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!_


	11. Chapter 10: Real World Climax

_Last time found Kairi once again forced to suffer, this time in order to save one of her friends and let another die. Yet Kairi found a loophole in DiDe's game and saved everyone. DiDe then unleashed her full power against our heroes in a cataclysmic battle to the finish, yet our heroes triumphed over the digital demon, with Kairi delivering the final blow. With Hell House deleted from ALO, Kairi and her friends returned to the real world. But that wasn't the end for Kazuto and Asuna, not by a long shot. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Chapter 10: Real World Climax**

Asuna was already at the site when Kazuto arrived in a nondescript car driven by a nondescript man. Kazuto looked around and saw a seemingly empty office building that was closed for renovations, while in front of the building were several more cars and a van, while Samantha waited just outside the front door.

"Before either of you rush in and do anything rash," said Samantha as she walked up to Kazuto and Asuna, "you need to know that the Rapture survivors are awake and receiving what's left of the medication they brought with them."

"That's good to know," said Asuna, "but what will happen to them now that there's no more?"

"We did save some to try and synthesize more," said Samantha, "but…"

Just then Kazuto heard the familiar sound of his motorcycle. He turned around and saw Suguha on said bike, pulling up to the building.

" _Onisan_!" exclaimed Suguha irately as she got off the bike, unslinging her _Shinai_ from her back, "you left me on that mountain alone with all those fairies!"

"Not now, Sugu!" said Kazuto. He then looked at Samantha, "you were saying?"

"Don't brush me off, _Onisan_!" said Suguha irately as she walked up to her adopted brother, brandishing her bamboo sword threateningly, "do you know how awkward a position you put me in? I had to promise to email all those Sylphs, Salamanders and Cait Siths and everyone else with a full explanation of what happened in Hell House. Do you know how long that's going to take me to email all those people?"

"Just write one email," said a young woman in her early 20's who looked like a younger version of Samantha except for her dirty blond hair tied in a short braid and wore heavy glasses. "Then email all your friends at once. If they're on your contact list, you can send it to them at once."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," said Suguha in a deflated but relieved tone as she lowered her Shinai, "thanks…uh…"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Samantha, "this is my daughter and graduate assistance, Karen."

"We've met before," said Karen Armitage to Kazuto and Asuna.

"We have? When?" Asuna asked.

"That can wait," said Kauzto, "what about Kairi?"

"Yeah, what about Kairi?" asked Asuna.

"Did you get her out yet?" Suguha asked.

"Uh…that's the problem I mentioned over the phone," said Samantha in a highly agitated tone. "You'd better come with me. And don't ask why; it'll be better if you see for yourselves."

Fearing the worst, Kazuto, Asuna and Suguha followed Samantha and Karen through the building entrance and up the elevator several floors.

"Foundation X bought the building and used the renovations as a cover for their operations," said Karen as they exited the elevator and found themselves in the first of several lab rooms, "they had their own portable generators, water reclamation systems and just about everything else they needed to be self sufficient."

"We might never have gotten wise of their plans if it weren't for you and your fellow gamers," said Samantha as they made their way through the labs. But then they stopped outside one room where several EMT's were checking on Chrissie and the other Rapture survivors.

"Chrissie!" shouted Asuna.

"Is that you…Asuna?" Chrissie asked as she walked out of the room, "wow, you look…uh…"

"Human?" Asuna asked as she smiled, "it's the small ears, right?"

"I was saying you looked nice," said Chrissie, "and you too, Kirito."

"It's Kazuto in the real world," said Kazuto, "and this is my sister, Suguha."

"You know me as Leafa," said Suguha, "how do I look compared to my other self?"

"Less raunchy," said Chrissie as she looked at Suguha's lesser yet still considerable figure, "but still beautiful. I'm sorry, I'm still taking in this time period. Remember, my friends and I are from 1960 and this is 2025."

"Well, what'd you expect of the future?" Asuna asked, "everyone riding around in hover cars, eating dehydrated meals the size of pills and everything else done with the push of buttons?"

"It's really not that different than the world I read about before the founding of Rapture," said Chrissie, "yes, the technology's way beyond what I imagined, but the people are still people. I'm just glad you never had a nuclear war as Andrew Ryan feared would happen."

"We still have nukes, but the people responsible for them are more responsible than they were a few decades ago," said Karen, "at least I hope they are."

"What about Joshua and the others?" Kazuto asked.

"They're still feeling the effects of that one dose of normal EVE," said Chrissie, "but the doctors here, they've doled out all but the last of our special EVE and the others are felling much better, except for Travis. He had so much normal EVE…but we're all still hoping he'll snap out of it." She then pulled out from her pocket a single syringe half full of the special EVE, "this is all that's left of what Dr. Tenenbaum made for us. I just hope your scientists can make more without having to revert to what we in Rapture did to make EVE in the first place."

"I hope so too," said Asuna, "now, where's Kairi."

"That's what we need to show you," said Samantha, "this way please."

She lead Kazuto, Asuna and Suguha to the main lab, stopping outside the closed doorway, "now, whatever you see in there, I want your word of honor that you won't do anything stupid."

"Define stupid," said Suguha.

"Just don't overreact," said Karen, "Kairi's life may depend on what we all do next." With that she opened the door, revealing several of Samantha's colleagues standing around the computer stations, while half a dozen of the special ops had their weapons aimed at Sugō Nobuyuki, whom was calmly standing in the room with his right fist raised and clutching a metal object.

"Ah, my beloved Titania!" said a joyfully deranged Sugō as he saw Asuna, "at last, you've come to stand with your Oberon!"

"You son of a bitch!" shouted an outraged Asuna as she tried to rush at and attack Sugō, only to be restrained by Kazuto and Suguha, "I'm going to skin you alive and sew it back on inside out!"

"Oh, but if you do that," said Sugō in a taunting manner as he opened his fist slightly, revealing a remote detonator, "if you do that, I'll be forced to let go of this."

"He's rigged an electromagnetic pulse generator right into the main computer servers," said Samantha, "we've got experts trying to disarm the device but he booby trapped it."

"While that remote is a dead man switch," said Karen, "he so much as twitches in the wrong way and the servers are fried."

"So he wipes out a lot of data," said Suguha, "just tackle him already!"

"Or shoot him in the head!" snapped Asuna.

"We do that and Kairi's as good as dead!" said Samantha irately.

At that Asuna did a double take, "what? How? Why?"

"It's him," said Karen as she glared at the smugly smiling Sugō, "by the time we secured the digitizing device in the next room, he had programmed the system to store Kairi's data in a memory buffer, while also setting up a lockout program. When Kairi attempted to activate the rematerialization program, her data was trapped in the buffer when it should have gone to the digitizer. We tried to get to her data but we were locked out of the system."

"He's encrypted the system with a highly complex password that'll take days to break," said Samantha, "and we have some of the best decrypting specialists in the world."

"Which just goes to prove that I am the superior scientific genius," said Sugō, "superior to the so called defenders of the human race, the oh-so brave Night Scholars. You should stick to chasing ghosts and monsters under the bed."

"We've faced things that would drive you out of your already twisted mind," said Karen, "and what you've done; teaming up with Foundation X to continue your sick mind control experiments! Forcing Kairi into those vile games with DiDe and now threatening to erase her with that EMP device, who the hell do you think you are!?"

"A god among mortals!" said Sugō as he raised the detonator, "one that will not be denied his just dues!"

"And what is it that you want, Sugō?" Kazuto asked calmly, though his hands trembled with a burning need to strangle the delusional psychopath before him.

"Funny thing you should ask that, Kirito," said Sugō, "for you have one of the things I desire most, which I'll get too soon enough. First of all, I wish for a full pardon for whatever alleged crimes I've committed."

"Alleged?" asked an exasperated Suguha, "you trapped and tormented the minds of three hundred innocent people! You imprisoned Asuna's mind so you could live out your sick fairytale fantasy! You tried to rape her in the real world!"

"I did no such thing!" snapped Sugō, "I would never have touched her that way, not until we exchanged wedding vows that is."

"I still can't believe my father agreed to such a ridiculous idea!" said Asuna, "if he knew just how evil you were, what you wanted to do to me, he'd have killed you with his bare hands!"

"Then it's a good thing your father is such an imbecile," said Sugō, at which Asuna again tried to rush at and attack him, only to be held back by Kazuto, Suguha and now Karen.

"You were listing your demands," said Samantha in a businesslike manner, "you've already asked for a pardon. What else?"

"I wish for transportation out of Japan to a non-extradition country," said Sugō, "I hear Cuba's nice this time of year, so is Dubai, Bhutan wouldn't be a bad choice either."

"I'll see to getting a jet fueled," said Samantha, "and I'll call about a bulletproof limo with a full mini bar."

"How can you even think about negotiating with this monster?!" exclaimed Asuna.

"It's either that or let Kairi be derezzed," said Karen.

"What did you say?" Kazuto asked as he looked at Karen.

"Never mind," said Karen. She then looked at Sugō, "is there anything else? Money? How much to buy back Kairi's life?"

"I have more than enough currency stashed away where the law can't touch it," said Sugō, "what I want can't be assigned a monetary value."

"Then what do you want?" Asuna asked.

"You know what I want, my dearest Tatiana," said Sugō, "a king is only half a king without a queen by his side."

"Over my dead body," said Kazuto as he pulled Asuna back a pace and stood in front of her, "I'll die before I let you touch her again!"

"As much as I'd love to see you dead, Kirito," said Sugō, "and believe me, nothing would make me happier, well, almost nothing. I want your in-game wife to be my real world bride, and together, we shall take on the world and make it bow down before us!"

"You fucking psycho!" shouted Chrissie as she walked into the world, both her hands crackling with electricity, "I'm going to do what Ben Franklin once tried to do to a turkey!"

"Go ahead and try to kill me," said Sugō, "if you value Kairi's life so little, then go ahead, use your fantastic powers to take my life."

"That won't be necessary," said a voice from the doorway. There stood a man in his early 40's with balding, slightly graying brown hair, glasses in front of brown eyes and leaning heavily on an arm crutch.

"Oh, Andrew," said a relieved Samantha, "thank goodness you made it. Kazuto, Asuna, this is Andrew Carpenter, one of the best operatives in The Night Scholars, and also one of my oldest, dearest friends."

"And someone who's inspired me to greater and grander things," said Karen, "but that's another story. Where's Jill?"

"She'll be along soon," said the alternate Andrew Carpenter as he limped into the room on his arm crutch, "she has one small errand to take care of, which is good because I'd rather not have her see what I do with the filth." He then looked at Kazuto, Asuna and Suguha, "nice to meet you all in the flesh, Kirito, Asuna, Leafa."

"How do you know…wait…Xenophon?" Kazuto asked, "is that…is that you?"

"Again, in the flesh," said Andrew.

"I thought you said you were in a wheelchair," said Asuna.

"I said I was in a wheelchair for seven years," said Andrew, "I had my legs amputated at the knee seven and a half years ago on a mission, long story. Six months ago I had finally got around to getting fitted for prosthetic legs. I can walk, more or less."

"Well, what are you doing here in Japan?" Kazuto asked.

"I live here in Japan," said Andrew, "I have dual citizenship and own a house in Aoyama. When Samantha called and told me that some ALO players had stumbled upon a Foundation X plot, I just knew that you guys were the ones I met in The Town of Beginnings."

"Well, aren't you perceptive," said Sugō in a demeaning manner, "but it makes no difference. I will erase Kairi if my demands aren't met."

"I'm not here to negotiate with a delusional, psychotic waste of human life," said Andrew coldly, "and don't waste my time with your lies about being a god. You want people to worship you, start a cult."

"You dare…!" snapped Sugō.

"I dare because I can," said an irate Andrew, "and don't look at me like that, Kazuto, you too, Asuna, I know what I'm doing."

"What you're doing is upsetting the maniac who holds Kairi's life in his hands," said Kazuto.

"I know, but he won't push the button," said Andrew, "and he knows he won't. If he does, he loses any and all bargaining chips in his favor and is pretty much as good as dead. On the other hand, he knows we'll never give him what he wants, so what we've got here is a bit of a standoff."

"You think so little of your new god," said Sugō.

"I'm happy with the old one, thank you very much," said Andrew irately, "believe me, I got enough of religion every time my mother dragged me to temple on Friday nights, sometimes Saturday morning, I really hated that, going to temple and missing my cartoons. God, I miss the 20th century, they really knew how to make Saturday morning cartoons then. Nowadays nine out of ten cartoons on the air are pure shit, but that's just my opinion."

"You're attempt to appeal to my humanity is futile!" exclaimed Sugō, "I am beyond human compassion! If you had any wits at all, you'd fall on your knees and beg for mercy!"

At that Andrew sighed and placed his head in his palm, "you know what's really sad? I've seen a lot of men and women claiming to be gods and demand that we mortals worship them. Sometimes they did have real powers; some mystical, some created by science, while others were mere tricksters who maintained their hold over their followers with stage magic and illusions.

"No matter the would-be god, they all have two things in common; they're all loonier than Daffy Duck, and they all fail, just as you'll fail, Sugō Nobuyuki."

"I will succeed!" exclaimed Sugō, "I will rule over the minds of the entire world!"

"I knew someone who tried to be the god of his own world," said Andrew, "for a while he had everything he wanted, and then lost it, but that's another story. My point is that you're as mortal as the rest of us, and while some mortals are gifted, sometimes in more ways than one. But you, you're just a sad, pathetic thief who had to resort to stealing his material from a true genius."

"A genius who saved your life," said Kazuto, "the same man who wound up causing a lot of pain and suffering. If Kayaba Akihiko had any successes, is was you, Andrew."

"K-K-KAYABA!" exclaimed Sugō, "you dare mention him in my presence!"

"Why not?" Anderw, "despite his crimes, he came closer to becoming a god than you ever will."

"I'll show you who's a god or not!" shouted Sugō, "for I have the ultimate power! The power of LIVE and DEATH!" he then raised the detonator and pressed the button.

"NO!" shouted Asuna, Kazuto and Suguha.

But after a few seconds everyone realized that nothing happened.

"We should be in the dark," said Karen, "that EMP device is strong enough to short out everything electrical in five kilometers."

"What is this!?" exclaimed Sugō as he looked at the detonator and pressed the button again, then again and again, "why won't it work!?"

"Sorry it took so long," said Andrew as he cleaned his glasses, "but I had to stall for time while Jill deactivated the EMP device. I could have taken care of it in a heartbeat, but she insisted I deal with you myself."

It was then that Jill Carpenter ran into the room, "sorry it took so long, everyone," said Jill, "that device was a rather tough nut to crack."

"I told you I could have taken care of it," said Andrew, "but you just had to try it yourself."

"I know you," said Asuna as she looked at Jill, "you're Jill Sparrow! Four time world champion fencer and two time Olympic gold medalist for Great Brittan."

"And half psychotic myself," said Jill, "but that was a long ago. Anyway, the EMP device has been deactivated; we just need to break the encryption on the main computer."

"Which would go a lot better if someone would simply cooperate and stop wasting everyone's time," said Samantha as she looked at Sugō.

"I'll never tell you the password!" said Sugō defiantly as he tossed the useless detonator on the ground, then pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Kazuto, "not while I can still get away."

"You want to kill Kirito-kun," said Asuna as she got in front of Kazuto with her arms spread, shielding him from the madman's aim, "you'll have to kill me first!"

"As if mere bullets can harm you, my beloved Tatiana," said Sugō, "we're immortal fairies, remember?"

"You just said you were a god, now you're a fairy," said Karen, "you're more messed up than Charlie Sheen, Miley Cyrus and Mel Gibson put together, and that's saying something."

"Silence!" shouted Sugō, "don't you ever disrespect me like that! I am your king! I am your GOD! I AM…!"

That's as far as Sugō got before Suguha rushed in and whacked him on the wrist with her _Shinai_ , forcing the madman to drop the pistol. Sugō blinked in confusion, then gasped and cried out in pain, clutching his assaulted wrist. He then looked at Suguha with disbelief, "you…you dare strike the omnipotent King Oberon!"

Suguha then hit him again, this time on the head with enough to knock him to the ground where he lay there, breathing but unmoving.

"I thought he'd never shut up," said Suguha irately as she kicked the pistol away from the unconscious lunatic.

"Not that I'm glad that you did that, Sugu," said Kazuto, "but we needed him to give us the password."

"It'll take us days to work out the encryption," said Karen, "longer maybe."

"Then we'll make him tell us the password," said Chrissie as she walked up to the unconscious Sugō and nudged him with her shoe, "wake up. I said wake up!" she then knelt down and began slapping him across the face, "wake up, you son of a bitch!"

"I'm not doctor, but I don't think he's really unconscious," said Jill.

"More like catatonic," said Andrew as he bent down and examined Sugō, "we shattered his world and now he's retreated into himself where the outside world can't hurt him. He could be like this for the rest of his life."

"Oh, that's just great," said an exasperated Chrissie, "now we'll never get the password out of him! Kairi's gonna be stuck in that memory thing for who knows how long?"

"We may not have to wait that long," said Asuna in a thoughtful manner as she walked up to the main computer terminal, "after all that's happened, Sugō was still obsessed with me. Maybe that obsession is the key to Kairi's salvation." She then began typing and after a few keystrokes hit ENTER. Instantly, the red lockout window with the words ACCESS DENIED…IMPUT PASSWORD…was replaced by a green window with the words ACCESS GRANTED.

"What'd you do?!" an astonished Karen asked.

"What was the password?" Samantha asked.

"What he always saw me as," said Asuna, "the queen to match his king."

"'Tatiana,' of course," sighed Karen, "I should have known. The man's clearly obsessed with Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' I should have known, some detective I am."

"I think you're a great detective, Beatrice," said Kazuto in a knowing manner.

At that Karen blinked in surprise, then smiled in acknowledgement, "how'd you figure that out?"

"It's obvious that you two are above average geniuses," said Kazuto, "you look a lot like your avatar, and you both used the same word; 'derezzed.'"

"I knew I shouldn't have let you make my daughter watch those old movies," said Samantha at Andrew.

"Hey, she wanted to watch," said Andrew, "is it my fault that she asserted her independence and desire to start out on her own?"

"What's that now?" Samantha asked.

"I want to have my own life, mom," said Karen irately, as if venting years of pent up frustration she only know had the nerve to let lose, "I don't want to be a carbon copy of you!"

"Carbon copy? What are you talking about?" Samantha asked.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about, mother!" snapped Karen, "you've been grooming me my whole life to take over as head librarian at M.U.'s Arkham campus, and to lead The Night Scholars! That's not what I want to do with my life!"

"I thought you wanted to be the next head librarian!" said Samantha, "to carry on the family tradition!"

"Well, I don't!" snapped Karen, "and I'm sick and tired of you acting like I have no say in the matter! It's my life; I'll live it how I see fit!"

"Now I get it, the reason why you and Dr. Armitage have such a strained relationship," said Kairi as she stood at the doorway.

"KAIRI!" exclaimed Asuna as she rushed to the doorway and hugged her.

"Nice to finally see you for real," said Kairi as she hugged back.

"When did you get back to the real world?" Kazuto asked.

"Just now," said Kairi, "why, what'd I miss?"

"A lot," said Suguha, "nice to see you for real too."

"Same here," said Kairi as she and Suguha hugged, then she hugged Karen, "You too, Beatrice."

"It's Karen here, and thanks for standing up for me."

"Well," said Samantha, "if it's your damn life, why don't you tell me what you want to do with it?"

"I want to be a writer," said Karen.

"A writer?" asked Samantha in a disbelieving tone, "that's what you want to do with your life?"

"Yes, I want to be a writer," said Karen, "specifically a mystery novelist. I've got dozens of ideas for stories based on my experiences in Victorian Noir. I figured on creating a series about my character, Beatrice Lancaster, Steampunk P.I."

"And I suppose you expect to simply walk away from your responsibilities as a Night Scholar?" asked Samantha.

"I never said I wanted to give up being a Night Scholar," said Karen, "I just don't want to be the next leader, that's all. And I still don't want to be the next head librarian. Give the job to Klaus Baudelaire, he'd love that."

"You have the Baudelaires on this world?" Kairi asked, "wait, Andrew? Jill?"

"You must be familiar with one or more set of our alternates," said Jill.

"Uh-huh," said Kairi. She then looked at the catatonic Sugō, "is that him? Is he the monster responsible for this whole mess?"

"He can't hurt you or anyone else," said Samantha, "nor will he hurt anyone ever again. He's going back to prison where he belongs. I don't know how we'll explain it to the authorities how we have him or about the impostor in his cell. Then again, we Night Scholars are used to lying to the authorities, for the right reasons that is."

Just then one of the Night Scholars ran up to and whispered something into Samantha's ear, "what's this now? Oh dear, that's not good at all."

"What's not good?" Kairi asked.

"It's about your friends, your fellow survivors from your underwater city," said Samantha to Chrissie, "they're not at all well."

"They're still in withdraw from the special EVE," said Chrissie. She then swayed and nearly fell over, "and I'm feeling pretty shitty myself!"

Kairi caught Chrissie before she hit the floor, "thanks," said Chrissie, "I'm glad I didn't do that when that psycho was awake."

"You were bluffing?" Kairi asked.

"Pretty much," said Chrissie, "even after getting some of the special EVE, I doubt I could have blasted the prick," she then pulled out the half full syringe of the special EVE, "this is all that's left."

"It could take weeks to fully analyze and synthesize a substitute," said Karen, "the Foundation X scientists, they did some work on it but took the data with them when they fled."

"I thought this was the future!" snapped Chrissie, "that science had advanced enough to produce near miracles!"

"Hey, we're good, but not miracle workers," said Karen, "and why aren't you as sick as the others?"

"How the fuck should I know?!" spat Chrissie, "I'm no scientist! I'm just a girl who's been thrown into a nightmare of a journey, whose friends are suffering and possibly dying!"

"The Moogles," said Kairi, "if they can't synthesize the special EVE in record time, no one can."

"Who or what are Moogles?" Karen asked.

"Long story," said Kairi. She then looked at Chrissie, "if we're going to save you and the others, we have to go to my world now, and I mean now!"

"You're leaving already?" Suguha asked, "but…we just met for real."

"I know," said Kairi, "and I'd love nothing more than to say and get to know you and the others better and to explore your world. But my friends need help only my world can provide. Besides, I still have to find Sora and the others."

"Then this really is goodbye," said Kazuto.

"It looks that way," said Kairi. She then glared at Samantha, "unless you wish to detain my friends and I, in which you'll find that I'm not to be trifled with!"

"I'd be a poor defender of reason and justice if I tried," said Samantha. She then looked at her colleagues, "get the Rapture survivors ready to go now, and by now I mean five minutes ago!"

"Wow, your mom's something," said an impressed Suguha to Karen.

"You should see her on Thanksgiving and Christmas," said Karen, "talk about a slave driver."

It was then that Joshua, Rachael, Calvin, Lisa and Travis were brought into the room, the first four showing signs of severe drug withdraw and anxiety, while Travis looked eerily calm, as if he were ignoring the whole situation.

"Hi, Kairi," said a visibly trembling Rachael as she wiped some sweat from her brow before it dripped into her eyes.

"You look terrible," said Kairi.

"I feel terrible," said Rachael. She then gave a disturbingly cheerful smile, "but soon I'll be back in the garden!" she then laughed heartily.

"Ignore her, she's lost her marbles," said Joshua. He then looked around warily, then leaned close to whisper in Kairi's ear and giggled, "I should know, I stole them when she wasn't looking."

"Uh, yeah," said a disturbed Kairi, "look, we're going to my world now and, I hope, you'll get the help you need there."

"Aw, thank's Auntie Em," said Lisa, "you're not such a bad fellow after all."

"Yeah, you should go now," said Kazuto. "Hopefully before one of them decides to get violent."

"Yeah," said Kairi. She then summoned her Keyblade, much to the surprise of Samantha, Andrew, Jill and the other Night Scholars. Kairi then used her Keyblade to open a portal.

"You sure this thing's safe?" Chrissie asked cautiously as she looked at the portal.

"I've been using them with Sora and the others for a long time," said Kairi, "They're safe, more or less."

"Works for me!" said Calvin eagerly as he ran into the portal, followed by Lisa, while Rachael and Joshua had to be helped through by Karen. Travis simply walked in.

"This is it," said Kairi to Kazuto and Asuna, "thank you for everything. If I can I'll come back someday."

"Or we can come visit you sometime," said Asuna, "and maybe figure out how to help you fight Columbina and Darklight."

"That'd be great," said Kairi. She then hugged Asuna and Kazuto again, before she and Chrissie walked through the portal, which closed up after them.

"Well, this is definitely one for the archives," said Samantha, "what a debriefing this'll make when we get back home."

"Do you think we'll really see them again?" Suguha asked.

"I sincerely hope so," said Karen, "for Kirito's sake. Kairi still has his coat."

"My god, you're right!" exclaimed Kazuto, "Kairi was wearing my Coat of Midnight!"

"She was!" exclaimed Asuna, "I can't believe I didn't notice!"

"But how?" Kazuto asked, "how was she able to bring an item from the game into the real world?"

"Whatever it was that allowed her to conjure up fairy dust by willing it to be," said Karen, "that allowed your coat to fit her as if it were tailor made for her. She's gifted."

"Just like you two," said Samantha to Kazuto and Asuna, then looked at Suguha, "whereas you, young lady, have your own gifts, in more ways than one."

"Uh…thanks," said a slightly uncomfortable Suguha as she struggled to hide her rather pronounced figure.

"She means you're like us, freaks endowed with superpowers," said Jill, "I can sense oncoming danger to myself and those around me and anticipate how to overcome that danger, while my husband can sense any mechanical fault in a machine and know how to repair that fault."

"Don't forget my best-selling line of cookbooks," said Andrew.

"You write cookbooks?" Asuna asked, "which ones?"

"You wouldn't know that I wrote them," said Andrew, "I had bribe my agent and publisher to use a pseudonym. I really don't like being famous."

"My point," said Samantha to Suguha, "is that The Night Scholars can help identify your abilities and bring out their full potential, and possibly guarantee a full college education in the process."

"We haven't even decided if we want to attend Miskatonic University," said Kazuto, "but…if you guys can help us find a way to help Kairi and her friends, then…"

"We'll talk about your future education and employment later," said Samantha, then looked at Karen, "and your potential writing career later. Right now we have to stop Columbina from carrying out her plan to smash twelve Keyholes and create the Sampo."

"How do you know about that?" Kazuto asked.

"A little bird told me on the way here," said Samantha as she pulled out an envelope that held several pages of a letter, "a little bird by the name of Alegra Wells, of whom I'm sure you'll get to know soon enough, Kiriyaga Kazuto."

* * *

… **Radiant Garden…**

"Don't freaking move!" shouted Yuna as she held her pistols less than a meter from Rachael's eyes, while Rikku, Paine, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Hayner, Pence and Olette, held their weapons ready in front of Joshua, Calvin, Lisa and Travis. The Rapture survivors had just emerged in a portal in one of the many rooms of the castle, the same room where Yuna and the others were resting.

"Guys, either I've really lost it, or we're back in the game," said Rachael as she looked at Yuna with concerned and amused eyes, "because there's another fairy in front of me!" she then laughed.

"I'm not a fairy!" said Yuna irately, "I just happen to be small and can fly!"

"Now tell us who you are and where you came from before we beat the truth out of you!" said Tidus.

"What he said!" agreed Pence.

"Betcha they're spies from Columbina," said Paine.

"Well, I spy something with my little eye," said Liza in a singsong voice, "something that begins with 'B.'"

"Well I see a ball," said Calvin as he looked at Wakka, "does he expect us to be afraid of a ball?"

"Man, if you knew what a Blitz Ball could to do your head, you would be scared!" said Wakka irately.

"Okay, so they're not very good spies," said Paine.

"Let's take them out before they try something," said Rikku as she prepared to throw a grenade, "and before The King shows up and starts asking unnecessary questions."

"Oh, there's a king here?" Rachael asked, "goodness! I don't have anything to wear! And I must look a fright! Someone get me a mirror so I can straighten my hair and powder my nose!"

"And they're crazy spies to boot," said Paine.

It was then that Chrissie and Kairi emerged from the portal, which closed up after them.

"Wow, what a trip," said Chrissie, "so, are we there yet?"

"Yeah, we're here," said Kairi as she looked at Selphie and the others, all of them looking at her with astonished eyes. "What? Is there something on my face? Do I have something in my teeth?"

"Is…is that really you, Kairi?" a startled Selphie asked.

"Maybe she's an impostor sent by Columbina," said Tidus, "or an evil clone!"

"Like Kiraxi!" said Olette, "quick! Someone ask her something only the real Kairi would know?"

"What were you, Sora and Riku gonna call your raft?" Wakka asked.

"Dude, everyone knows about the raft!" said Tidus.

"Alright then, how about this?" Selphie asked as she walked up Kairi, "how many Paopu fruit did we eat that one New Years?"

"Paopu fruit doesn't grow during winter," said Kairi, "and I only ate it once with Sora and the others; it was terrible."

"That's the Kairi we know and love!" exclaimed Selphie as she embraced Kairi, while Tidus and the others all talked excitedly.

It was then that King Mickey, Leon and Quistis ran into the room, "what's all the hooha!?" exclaimed The King.

"Your Majesty! Kairi's back!" shouted Olette.

"And she brought some friends," said Hayner.

"Guys, are you seeing a giant, talking mouse?" Calvin asked in a frightened tone.

"Don't worry, he's a very good friend," said Kairi. She then walked up to King Mickey and bowed, "your Majesty, I'm back. This is Chrissie and her friends from Rapture."

"Uh…how do you do…sir?" asked an unsure Chrissie, "Oh! Right!" she then pulled out the half dose of the special EVE, "my friends and I need this drug, without it we'll go hopelessly insane."

"It's a long story, your majesty," said Kairi in an urgent tone, "but it's vital that they get that drug. Their lives and sanity depend on it, not to mention the safety of the others."

"Believe me, if we don't get more of that special EVE soon," said Chrissie, "my friends and I could start trying to kill everyone we see."

"Then we'd better make sure you get your medication," said King Mickey. He then took the syringe and handed it to Leon, "get that to Ansem and the Moogles. Tell them to synthesize as much of it as they can right away."

"Roger!" said Leon. With that he and Quistis hurried out of the room.

But then Quistis came back, dragging Leon with him, "almost forgot, welcome back, Kairi."

"It's good to be back," said Kairi, "thanks."

"What about Sora and the others?" King Mickey asked as Leon and Quistis left for real.

"I don't know," said Kairi, "they're out there, lost somewhere in time and space. But I know, I feel," she then held her hands over her heart, "that they're still alive."

"We'll find them," said King Mickey, "somehow we'll find them. But we've got another problem to deal with."

"Columbina and Darklight," said Kairi, "I've got a lot to tell you and the others about them. But have they done? How much damage did they do?"

"We'll talk about it when everyone's together," said King Mickey. He then looked Hayner, Pence and Olette, "I want a general meeting of everyone in the main library in three hours," he then looked at Tidus, Wakka, Selphie and the Gullwings, "and get our new friends to the infirmary, most of them look like they're ready to keel over."

"Keel over? I couldn't be on a more even keel," said Liza as she, Calvin, Joshua, Rachael, Travis and Chrissie, were lead out of the room, "it's you guys who look ready to capsize."

"They'll be alright," said King Mickey to Kairi, "and so will you after you've had a chance to rest."

"I feel like I could sleep for a week," said Kairi, "but I'll be at the meeting. What I've got to tell you and the others changes everything."

"I'm sure it will," said King Mickey as Kairi walked towards the doorway, "and Kairi, welcome home."

"It's good to be home," said Kairi.

 **The End of Chapter 10**

 _It's not over yet, fellow readers and writers, so stay tuned!_


	12. Epilog: A Shining Coronation

_Last time found Kazuto, Asuna and company confronting the mad Suguo as he threatened to erase Kairi from existence, forever. Yet all was made right as the madman was detained and Kairi returned to the real world, and then returned to Radiant Garden with the Rapture survivors. 'Nuff said, on with the show!_

 **Epilog: A Shining Coronation**

… **Castle Infirmary…three hours later…**

"Oh my God! That's _so_ much better!" sighed Rachael as she, Calvin, Joshua and Lisa, sat on hospital beds and were given the recently synthesized special EVE intravenously.

"For a moment I really thought I was losing it," said Joshua, "I mean, fairies with guns and talking mice, it had to have been the withdraw, right?"

"I'm afraid you experienced more reality than hallucination, my young friend," said Ansem as he monitored the survivor's condition.

"I still can't believe you got this stuff ready so quickly," said Calvin, "remind me to thank those little guys with the big noses and those big red balls sticking out of their heads."

"You can thank me by paying the bill, kuppo!" said one of the Moogles as he stood nearby, "rush jobs don't come cheap!"

"We'll discuss your compensation later," said Aerith. She then looked at Rachael and the others, "right now you four need your rest."

"Chrissie doesn't need to rest," said Liza, "why's that?"

"I have no idea," said an annoyed and slightly impatient Chrissie as she sat in a nearby chair, tenderly rubbing a bandage in the crook of her elbow, then rubbed a smaller bandage on her other arm, "and if those doctors take any more blood from me for tests, I'll take it back from them through their noses!"

"I apologize for that," said Ansem, "but you seem to have a slight advantage over your friends."

"You're not as badly affected by the withdraw as the others," said Aerith, "we don't know if it's genetic or something else, but you're definitely handling your addiction better."

"You kept your head while the rest of us were losing ours," said Rachael.

"Guess that makes you a freak among freaks," said Joshua.

"And he's the biggest freak of them all," said Calvin.

At that Chrissie looked and saw Travis standing by an open window, looking out at the night sky.

"He's been like that for since was brought here," said Aerith, "even after he was injected with the synthesized EVE."

Chrissie walked up to Travis and was about to talk to him, but he spoke first. "It's beautiful," he said as he looked out the window.

"Yeah, the view's nice," said Chrissie cautiously.

"Not the view, the music!" snapped Travis, "can't you hear the music?"

"What music?" Chrissie asked.

"The Spheres, Chrissie!" said Travis as he turned to face Chrissie, revealing a mutation welt on his face, "The Music of the Spheres! Can't you hear it?"

"I…" said a shocked and tongue tied Chrissie, "I…"

"The stars, the stars are singing to me!" said Travis as he blissfully turned to look out the window again, "they're singing just for me! Isn't it glorious?!"

"Yeah, it's wonderful," said Chrissie mutely as she backed away from Travis. She then walked over to Ansem and Aerith, "isn't there anything that can be done for him?"

"I wish I knew," said Ansem, "his mind may never fully recover. Or he may snap out of it in five minutes, who knows? Only time will tell. And speaking of time, I really must be going, the meeting is about to start."

"Oh…one of the stars is losing its voice," said Travis in a sad tone.

"Now what?" Chrissie asked as she looked out the window, just in time to see a star go out.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Aerith, "not again! That makes five!"

"Then we'd better work fast to make sure it doesn't become six," said Ansem.

* * *

"Did anyone else see that?" Yuffie asked as she, Leon, Quistis, King Mickey and Kairi stood looking out the windows of the main library. Also there was Donald, Goofy, Cid, Professor Ludwig von Drake, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie and The Gullwings.

"That makes five Keyholes smashed," said Quistis, "and we don't even know which one got hit this time!" She then beat her fist against a nearby table in frustration.

"We're not beaten yet," said Leon, "at least I don't think we are."

Just then Ansem hurried into the library, "did you see?" he asked.

"We did," said Kairi, "but that can wait until the meeting actually starts. How are Chrissie and the others?"

"Recovering," said Ansem, "yet young Travis has a longer road ahead of him."

"They'll be fine," said King Mickey, "now, is everyone here?"

"They are now!" said Nessie as she and Jacob hurried into the room and up to Kairi and the others, "sorry we're late;I had to call home and tell them I'll be staying. Nice to see you again, Kairi!"

"You too," said Kairi as she hugged Nessie and shook hands with Jacob, "but what about Lyra and Will? And Victorie and Teddy?"

"They had to go back to their worlds," said Jacob, "but promised to be back with reinforcements."

"So it's just us for now, okay," said Kairi, "now, you all want to know what I know about Columbina and Darklight. Okay, here's what happened."

And so Kairi told her friends and allies about the events in Rapture, focusing on the encounter with Columbina and Darklight, how Columbina was a witch from another dimension hell-bent on achieving revenge against her twin sister and fellow magic users, the revelation of Darklight's identity and the separation of Sora, Riku, Tess, Aiden and Malcolm, then finishing up with her experiences in ALO.

"So Darklight was someone you met while you were with The Guardians?" King Mickey asked, "who was corrupted by Columbina into a Princess of Dark?"

"It's our fault," said Kairi as she sat down in a dejected manner, "Sora, the others and I. We should have known Bethany was a potential Princes of Heart. We shouldn't have left her and Kate behind."

"No, it's not your fault!" said Queen Minnie, "there's no way you could have foreseen what Columbina would do."

"What I don't understand," said Leon, "if Malcolm can identify potential Princesses of Heart, how come he didn't figure out that this Bethany was one?"

"I don't know," said Kairi, "but it doesn't make much difference now, does it."

"It should, but we can worry about that later," said King Mickey.

Just then a SeeD operative ran into the room and handed a message to Quistis, "well," she said after reading the message, "it's official; the fifth world to have its Keyhole smashed is Neverland."

"Oh no!" said Donald.

"What about Peter Pan and the Lost Boys?" Goofy asked, "and Wendy and even Captain Hook?"

"We don't know if anyone got off the world," said Quistis, "all that we know is that Darklight took out the Keyhole single-handedly. The SeeD team assigned to Neverland didn't even get a chance to fight."

"She's getting stronger," said King Mickey, "Darklight. I barely managed to hold my own against her on Wonderland."

Just then both Nikolai and Katarina ran into the room, "what the hell, Kairi!" exclaimed Katarina, "you've been back for three hours and you didn't even come to say hello? I thought we were friends!" she then rushed over and embraced Kairi in a near suffocating hug.

"Let her go, you idiot!" snapped Nikolai, "you're going to crush her like an insect like that!"

"No, it's fine," said Kairi in a strained tone as Katarina released her, "I'm sorry I didn't see you, Katarina, I was a little busy."

"Aren't we all," said Nikolai, "but now that you're here, all will be well, in the fullness of time."

"How can you be so sure?" Yuffie asked, "Keyholes are getting smashed like there's no tomorrow, and whenever someone tries to stop it, they get their tails ripped off and shoved down their throats."

"But now we know for sure that the enemy will be defeated," said Nikolai, "a prophecy was made by one of the New Zumakali, a prophecy that says that Sora and the others will return from their exile."

"Well, that's good to know," said Yuffie, "but they couldn't stop Darklight before. How can they stop her now that she's smashed five Keyholes?"

Just then another star went out of the night sky.

"Six Keyholes," said Yuffie. She then blinked in surprise and did a double take, "say what?!"

It was then that the entire room erupted into shouts of confusion, anger and a mix of fear and despair. That is, until Nikolai summoned an air horn and used it to grab everyone's attention.

"There, that's better," said Nikolai as he put the air horn down, "now let's not all lose our heads like hapless chickens."

"Man, I think the best thing we can do is lose our heads like chickens," said Hayner.

"How did she do it?" Selphie asked, "how did Darklight take out two Keyholes in a row like that?"

"Just settle down," said King Mickey, "settle down, everyone. We don't even know if that was a smashed Keyhole. For all we know it was some distant star at the end of its natural life."

"Like a nova or something," said Pence.

"Stars that go nova don't fade out like that," said Olette.

"How do you know?" Tidus asked, "you're no scientist."

"Well, why don't we ask a scientist?" said Olette. She then looked at Professor von Drake, "can you tell us if that was a nova or not?"

"Can I tell you if that was a nova or not?" asked Professor von Drake, "what am I saying? Of course I can tell you if that was a nova or not."

"Well?" asked Hayner.

"I…don't know," said Professor von Drake in a thoughtful manner.

Just then another SeeD operative ran in with another message for Quistis, "hold onto your hats, everyone," said Quistis gravely after reading the message, "it _was_ a Keyhole, this time The Enchanted Domain."

"That's Aurora's world!" exclaimed Kairi, "what are we going to tell her?"

"I don't know," said King Mickey in a dejected tone as he sat down.

"How are we going to stop them?!" exclaimed Pence, "how can we stop them!?"

"I don't know," said King Mickey.

"How did Darklight smash two Keyholes so quickly?!" asked Yuffie.

"I don't know," said King Mickey.

"How can we stop them!?" exclaimed Pence.

"With the prophecy," said Nikolai.

"You and your prophecy," said an annoyed Katarina, "it's still mostly gobbledygook."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"The prophecy was made by one of our espers," said Nikolai, "she went into a trace and began speaking in Old High Hakonian, a language that hasn't been spoken commonly since the fall of Hakonian Prime ages ago."

"We've got people trying to make sense of it," said Katarina, "but so far all we know is that Sora and the others will come back."

"And that you will welcome them with a glowing diadem on your brow," said Nikolai.

"A glowing diadem?" Ansem asked, "the Crown of Radiant Garden is a diadem that glows with magic."

"What difference does that make?" Yuffie asked in a tone that indicated she was in the depths of despair, "we're finished."

"We are if we lose hope," said Ansem in a thoughtful manner, "what we most at this point in time is hope, not just for us on Radiant Garden, but for the rest of the worlds, for it will take all the worlds of The Realms of Light to stand against Columbina, Darklight and the other villains. What we need is a symbol of hope to inspire all, to rally against the rising tide of darkness."

"Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to look elsewhere for your symbol," said Kairi, "I'm just not qualified."

"Oh, but you are qualified," said Alegra as she emerged from behind a bookcase, an open book in her hands, "more than you realize."

"You," said Kairi irately. She then rushed at and slapped Alegra hard across the face, then slapped her again, and again, tears of rage falling from Kairi's eyes. She would have hit Alegra more if Selphie and Yuffie hadn't pulled her away.

"I assume I deserved that," said Alegra as she calmly set the book down.

"Shut up!" shouted Kairi as she struggled to break free of Selphie and Yuffie, "don't even talk to me! This is your fault!"

"How is it her fault?" asked Laura Dunbar as she and her grandmother, Sylvia, walked into the room, "sorry we're late everyone, we were with Merlin and Yen Sid. Merlin thinks he may be on the brink of a major breakthrough."

"That can wait," said Alegra, "but first thing's first," she then walked up to Kairi, whom flinched away from her, "how many times do I have to reassure you that I'm not your enemy?"

"You might as well be," said Kairi, "you should have told us about Bethany! She was a potential Princess of Heart and you didn't even mention it to us!"

"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't," said Alegra in a more serious tone, "I'm sorry I didn't warn you about what Columbina would do, and I'm sorry I couldn't stop Columbina from separating you from Sora and the others."

"What about the smashed Keyholes?" Kairi asked, "why didn't you warn us about them!? Well!?"

"I'm sorry, I've…I'm…I'm having a couple of rough decades," said Alegra in a tentative manner, "I've been distracted."

"If there's one thing I've learned about you," said Sylvia as she walked forward, "is that the older you get, the worse you get at lying."

"You've been more than distracted," said Lara, "you're losing your mind."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"I'm not losing my mind!" said Alegra irately, "I've just been having trouble focusing. Believe me, nothing more has been on my mind than defeating Columbina and stopping her dark plans."

"And just what are her plans?" Sylvia asked, "do you know which Keyhole she and Darklight will attack next? Or how they'll create the Sampo? Or just what they'll use the Sampo for? Have you even discovered her true name?"

"What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past seven-hundred years?!" snapped Alegra.

"Seven-hundred years?" Kairi asked in an astonished tone.

"Since I last saw you all in Meridian," said Alegra, "and yes, I have been…less of myself lately."

"Just admit you've got Alzheimer's already," said Lara.

"Alzheimer's?" a shocked Kairi asked.

At that Alegra sighed, sat down and looked at Kairi, "yes, I have Alzheimer's, albeit a much slower and drawn out progress of the disease, but yes, I am definitely losing my mind. I've got another six or seven-hundred years or so before I am completely addled. Oh, there is proper medication I can take to slow down my mental degradation even further, and there are some worlds where they even have a cure."

"But you won't take it, will you," said Sylvia, "you've finally had enough, haven't you."

"Yes," said Alegra in an admitting tone, "it's been a long time coming, over two thousand years, but soon I shall have to give up my endless crusade against the forces of darkness."

She then stood up and walked up to Kairi, "but not before I help you, Sora and the others one last time, while also searching for someone to take my place. Not you, Lara, you can't be the new semi-immortal time traveler crusading against the darkness."

"How'd you know I was going to ask that?" Lara asked.

"Because it's what I'd ask for if I were in your shoes," said Alegra, "yours as well, Melody, and shouldn't you be back with your mother and father on Atlantica?"

It was then that Melody emerged from behind another bookcase, "I can still try, can't I?"

"You could, if you were as hard to kill as I am," said Alegra, "but you have only one life, young lady."

"Why are you here, Melody?" Nessie asked, "I thought you went back with Ariel and Eric to your world."

"I couldn't leave Alice and the others," said Melody, "Alice isn't well, while Belle, Jasmine and Cinderella are getting weaker day by day."

"Columbina already has one missing power and is looking for the other two," said Kairi, "but what's happening to Alice?"

"We don't know," said Melody, "after she drew that picture of Rapture she started drawing others, but she kept tearing them apart before she finished them and started on something else. That's pretty much all she's doing now. Aside from eating, sleeping and other necessities, all she does day in and day out is draw, draw and draw some more."

"As if we didn't have enough problems as it is," said Nikolai, "we don't have time to take care of every single problem that comes up. The prophecy must be fulfilled!"

"Kairi has to accept what's hers," said Katarina, "her birthright. And just wait until you see what I'm making for your coronation gown!"

"We don't have time for that either!" said Nikolai irately, "we'll know what to do next as soon as more of the prophecy is decrypted, but for now, Kairi must accept her destiny."

"My ailing mind has clouded my understanding of the future somewhat," said Alegra to Kairi, "and I'm having trouble focusing my time travel, nothing to worry about, just that I'm often off by a few minutes and meters in terms of arriving at a specific point in space and time.

"But one thing I'm sure of is that you can't run away from who you are anymore. You are the rightful heir to the throne of Radiant Garden. What you do after the crisis is your business and no one else's, but right now, your people need you. We all need you. Become who you were meant to be, Queen Kairi."

"I…don't know if I can," said Kairi, "you all want me to be not only the queen of an entire planet, but to lead you all against the forces of darkness. I keep getting kidnapped and separated from Sora and the others, for goodness sake! I got cursed and tried to kill my friends! I couldn't even keep Bethany and Kate safe.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not the leader or symbol you want. Sora's the right one for the job. Riku or Aiden would be pretty good too; even Tess and Malcolm would make better leaders than me."

"Well…maybe you're right," said Alegra, "but you're here and they're not. I'll do everything I can to find and bring them home, but until then, you'll have to make do."

"What about King Mickey?" Kairi asked, "He should lead. He's already a monarch, and he's a full blown Keyblade Master."

"If it were that simple, I would lead, Kairi," said King Mickey, "but I've already got my own world to rule, and it simply wouldn't be right."

"Even though you've been away for most of your life," said Yuffie to Kairi, "even though you've been running around the worlds fighting Heartless and other nasty stuff, the people still love you and have been waiting for you to be their queen."

"Let's face it, Kairi, you're stuck with the job," said Selphie, while Hayner, Pence, Olette, Tidus and Wakka, all nodded in agreement.

"I…please, everyone!" said Kairi desperately, "think what you're doing!"

"They have and their minds are made up," said Alegra, "now stop being so wishy-washy and grow a backbone already."

"I do have a backbone!" said Kairi irately, "it's just…"

"I know, Sora and the others," said Alegra, "I'll find them; I swear it. Now go make yourself more presentable and beautiful, we've got a coronation to get through."

"We're doing it now?" Katarina asked, "but…but it's too soon! We've got to plan the event; we need to pick a location, get the right people to perform the ceremony, the decorations, the guest list, the celebratory party and after party, not to mention that I still have to finish designing her coronation gown."

"We'll do without," said Ansem, "I'm fully qualified to perform the ceremony."

"As for a venue and guests," said Quistis, "this library and all of us will suffice."

"We can save the celebration for when we beat Columbina," said Lara.

"Oh, now that'll make it an even bigger party," said Katarina, "but at least let me pull together something fantastic for Kairi to wear. Oh! I've got just the thing in my wardrobe!" she then gently took Kairi by the shoulders and led her out of the library, "and you must let me do your hair and makeup. I swear, you Keyblade Wielders, I don't care how many worlds you save and how many nasties you destroy; that's still no excuse for you to not look your best."

"Someone should go with them to make sure Katarina doesn't go overboard," said Selphie.

"Yeah, us girls need to stick together," said Melody as she, Olette, Selphie, Yuffie and the Gullwings, followed Kairi and Katarina.

"My work here is done for now," said Alegra.

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Sylvia asked, "why?"

"I've got a lot of work to do and less than less than a thousand years to get it done before I completely lose my mind," said Alegra, "no time like the present to get started. Give my best to Kairi and tell her that I'll be back, with Sora and the others, light willing." With that she vanished.

"She has to be the most infuriating woman alive," said Sylvia irately, "so much that she may just drive me to drink!"

"You get the glasses and I'll get the champagne," said Quistis.

"Save it for when we win," said Leon, "now what the hell are we going to do about the Keyhole-smashing maniac on the loose?"

"What happened to the giant robots?" Tidus asked, "I thought we were going to build giant robots."

"And what about the defensive warships and satellites?" asked King Mickey.

"We're working on all of it, we just need more time," said Professor von Drake, "what am I saying? We need more than more time, we need years, decades even, before we'll ever have giant robots."

"Then we'll have to rely on Merlin's breakthrough," said Sylvia.

"What breakthrough?" King Mickey asked.

"To copy the protective power of The Cornerstone of Light," said Lara, "we've made a lot of progress in figuring out its power. We just need to figure out a few things."

"Like what?" Quistis asked.

"Oh, nothing much," said Sylvia, "we just need to figure out what the hell the damn thing is, where it came from and why its magic repels Heartless so well. And to do that, we need to go on a little trip."

"You're leaving?" Queen Minnie asked, "when?"

"Tonight," said Sylvia, "in fact, we've got to go right now, so this is goodbye for now. But there's one thing that has to be done first." She then looked at Donald and Goofy, "I need you two to go to the basement and look for a hidden safe behind the water heater. Bring up what's in the safe. The combination is 4-8-46-19-1. Can you remember it?"

"Of course we can remember," said Goofy, "right, Donald? The safe's behind thu' water heater and the combination is…uh…" at that Goofy took off his hat to scratch his head, "uh…" he then looked at Columbina, "What was it again?"

"Come here!" said Donald irate as he grabbed Goofy by his shirt, pulled him down, summoned a pen and wrote the combination on Goofy's face, "now we won't forget."

"That's going a little far," said Sylvia in a slightly uncomfortable manner, "but doable. And with that, we must go."

"Tell Kairi I wish her good luck," said Lara. With that she and Sylvia vanished.

"Unbelievable," sighed Quistis, "time travelers and magic users, they're so…so…"

"So-so?" Wakka suggested.

"No, but close enough," said Quistis as she walked out of the library.

"Where're you going?" Leon asked.

"I've got a headache, so I need some aspirin," said Quistis, "I'll be back for the coronation."

"Anyone else want to step out for a bit?" King Mickey asked.

"No, we're good," said Hayner as he got a short tournament of Triple Triad going with Wakka, Tidus and Hayner.

* * *

… **Castle Oblivion…**

"My dear, you have done me proud," said a delighted Columbina as the castle common area had been decked out for a party, "two Keyholes in one outing! I couldn't be prouder!"

"I just felt like stretching my legs," said Darklight as she idly stood near a table loaded with snacks and punch, while a handful of Neo Shadows wearing white bowties and gloves were made to serve champagne to the assembled villains, "nothing to brag about."

"Nothing to brag about?" an impressed Dio Brando asked as he was served champagne, "you snuck out without anyone noticing it, took out Neverland and Cinderella's world all by yourself!"

"I'm especially impressed that you destroyed the Keyhole of The Enchanted Domain first, then went to Neverland," said Young Xehanort.

"How is that impressive?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"It is impressive if you take the theory of relativity into account," said Insano, "Neverland's orbit currently has it closer Radiant Garden than The Enchanted Domain is, so from the prospective of those nauseatingly heroic fools on Radiant Garden, they'll see the light of Neverland go out first. It's not really _that_ important, just a little something for them to think and feel bad about."

"Yeah, well, she's still an awesomely evil babe," said Dio Brando. He then looked at Darklight, "If you weren't even crazier than I am, I'd ask you to marry me!"

"I already proposed to her, so back off!" snapped Gaston, whom happened to be next to Darklight on one knee, a black felt box open with a large diamond ring on display.

"Not interested," said Darklight as she walked away to sit in one corner.

"Well, what's up with her?" Dio Brando asked as he popped some hors d'oeuvre into his mouth, "you'd think she'd be happy about what she just did, especially the part where she wiped out all those SeeD guys without breaking a sweat."

"She's bored, that's what," said Regina.

"Bored?" Columbina asked, "how could she be bored when we're halfway to achieving our goal of twelve smashed Keyholes! And we are very close to having the means of creating The Sampo!"

"Just how are you going to do that?" Regina asked, "make the Sampo?"

"That's my dirty little secret," said Columbina, "and you, young lady," she looked at Darklight, "why are you so gloomy?"

"She fought and held her own against a Keyblade Master," said Young Xehanort, "everything since her battle with King Mickey has seemed dull and uninteresting in comparison."

"She won't be satisfied until she fights and defeats King Mickey," said Regina, "until then, I suggest you leave her to wallow in her misery."

"I refuse to believe such nonsense," said Columbina defiantly, "get up, child!" she then walked over and dragged Darklight to her feet, "now is the time for celebration!"

"We've also got the completion of the new Interocitor to make a fuss over," said Dio Brando, indicating the recently finished device, which had a multi-color ribbon tied around the view screen in a big bow.

"I know what will raise your spirits," said Sephiroth as he brought out a large pair of scissors, "would you care to do the honors?"

At that Darklight hesitated for a few seconds, before she took the scissors and used them to cut the ribbon on the Interocitor, upon which Sephiroth and the other villains applauded eagerly.

"Feeling better?" Sephiroth asked as he took the scissors back.

"As a matter of fact, yes, a little," said Darklight.

"Yes, we're all glad you're out of the doldrums of despair," said Dio Brando, "now, let's get back to spying on those idiots on Radiant Garden!" he then eagerly walked over to the Interocitor and turned the Intensifier Disk 18 to the left.

"You have a voyeurism problem, my friend," said Insano as he and the other villains sat around the Interocitor, waiting for the screen to clear.

"I _do not_ have a voyeurism problem," insisted Dio Brando, but any further argument was shattered by a cry of outrage from Columbina.

"What is _she_ doing there?!" exclaimed Columbina as she pointed at the screen, which showed Kairi, now wearing a red and gold dress with an ankle-length skirt and high heels, while her hair had been done up in an elegant style and wore makeup that enhanced her natural beauty.

Around Kairi stood King Mickey, Queen Minnie and the others, while in front of Kairi stood Ansem.

"What is this?" Young Xehanort asked irately.

"You said she was as good as dead!" snapped Dio Brando at Columbina. He then pointed at Kairi on the screen, "does that look good as dead to you?!"

"She looks quite lively to me," said Lady Tremaine through gritted teeth.

"I knew it," said Regina as she smiled a smile that could be interpreted as one of angry satisfaction, "I knew it."

"If Kairi's still alive, then so may Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders," said Darklight as she smiled wickedly, "my life just got interesting again."

"Yeah, yeah, but what is Kairi doing?" asked The Lord of Illusions as he appeared, sitting next to Regina.

"When did you get here?" Regina asked in an offended manner as she scooted away from the trickster.

"Just after you switched on the Interocitor," said the Lord of Illusions as he summoned a bowl of popcorn, "I've been busy looking for the makings of The Sampo, and no, don't ask me what they are, I'm under orders to keep my mouth shut."

"Then why did you tell us as little as you did?" Lady Tremaine asked.

"Just a tidbit of information to drive you all crazy with curiosity," said the Lord of Illusions smugly as he flicked some popcorn into his mouth.

"Something's happening!" said Young Xehanort as he and the others saw on the Interocitor Donald and Goofy bring in a cart bearing an ornately carved wooden box.

* * *

… **Radiant Garden…**

"It was right where Sylvia said it'd be, Ansem," said Goofy as he and Donald brought the cart over, "right in the basement behind the water heater! And I even remembered the combination!"

"Sylvia didn't tell us that there were five water heaters in the basement," grumbled a slightly dust and cobweb-covered Donald as he handed the box to Ansem.

"Sylvia must have gone to great pains to hide this," said Ansem, "for if this is what I think it is, then she must have used what was left of her magic after her battle with Maleficent to hide it, even at the risk of her life."

Ansem opened the case, revealing a glowing golden diadem encrusted with diamonds and engraved with mystic symbols

"The Crown of Radient Garden," said an awed Yuffie.

"Maleficent must have gone ballistic when she couldn't get her hands on that," said Aerith, "legend has it that whoever wears the Crown can call upon fantastic powers."

"What kind of powers?" Tidus asked.

"No one knows," said Aerith, "it's just a legend."

"Even legendary magic would have been enough to stir up Maleficent's greed," said King Mickey, "but now The Crown is about to be placed on its rightful owner."

"Are you ready, Kairi?" Ansem asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," said Kairi in a slightly doubtful tone, yet she gave a confident smile for Ansem and the others.

"You'll be fine!" said Katarina, "my fashion skills are a testament to that!"

"Just because you managed to couple together an outfit, doesn't make you an expert on motivation," said Nikolai.

"Sometimes all one needs is the right outfit to be more confident," said Katarina, she then frowned, "assuming she likes it. You do like it, Kairi?"

"Yeah, Katarina, you did great," said Kairi, "thank you so much." She then looked at Ansem, just as Katarina gave a squeal of delight.

"Then let us begin," said Ansem, "the actual ceremony isn't that complex. You have to swear a few promises and I place the diadem on your head."

"That's all?" Kairi asked.

"Indeed," said Ansem, "though such an event would merit much grander pomp and circumstances. Nevertheless, times are what they are. Now, I must ask if you are indeed ready to take The Crown? No one will be upset if you were to say no. This is an enormous responsibility you're about to undertake, it is not a mantle to be worn lightly."

"I know," said Kairi, "and I wish I could say no, but I have to. Not because I've been avoiding it, not because I'm afraid, and I'd be crazy to say that I'm not. I'm doing it for my friends, for those who love me, for Radiant Garden, for The Realms of Light and for all those whom wish to live in peace, happiness and freedom."

"Well spoken," said an impressed Ansem, "now, kneel."

At that Kairi knelt, while Ansem raised the diadem above her head.

"Do you swear to take up the role of sovereign of Radiant Garden?" asked Ansem.

"I do," said Kairi.

"Do you swear to use your powers and authority with wisdom, reason and justice?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to defend the lives, hearts and souls of those under your leadership?"

"I do."

"And do you swear to protect the light and to stand firm against the darkness?"

"I do."

At that Ansem lowered and placed the diadem on Kairi's head, "then rise, Queen Kairi of Radiant Garden! Long may you reign!"

"Long may She reign!" cheered King Mickey and the others as Kairi stood up.

"Thank you, all of you," said a joyfully glowing Kairi, "thank you all so much."

"Speech!" shouted Selphie.

"I'm no good at speeches," said Kairi modestly, "but...well, here it goes. All I can say for now is thank you all for placing your faith and trust in me. I don't know what kind of queen I'll be, but I promise I'll do my best, not only as your queen, but also as your leader. However this crisis turns out, I promise I'll do the best I can.

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen next. I know what I want to do next; go find Sora and the others. I know," she held her hand over heart, "I know here that they're still alive, lost somewhere and can't get home on their own. Right now there's a voice in my head and heart that's screaming at me to go find and bring them home.

"But that voice is drowned out by what I know is right and true, that my place is here, with you all. There are those obsessed with bringing about a terrible darkness and will destroy anyone and anything that gets in their way. We'll, we're in their way and none of us will be safe until Columbina, Xehanort and the other villains are stopped.

"Again, I don't know what's going to happen next, but one thing I do know is that as long as I'm alive, I'll fight for the lives, freedom and happiness of all those whom walk in the light, and you can take that to the bank and cash it."

At that everyone cheered and clapped.

* * *

… **Castle Oblivion…**

"NO!" bellowed Columbina as she grabbed a Champaign bottle from a Neo Shadow and prepared to throw it at the Interocitor, only to be restrained by Gaston and Dio Brando.

"That miserable little slut!" shouted Columbina as she struggled violently to break free of the villains holding her back, "I'll kill her! I'll rip her heart out and burn it on a sacrificial altar and send her miserable soul to Hell!"

"Not if you give yourself a brain aneurism first," said Insano as he smugly watched the struggle.

"This is definitely an unexpected turn of events," said Regina as she watched Kairi being congratulated by her fellow defenders of the light, "I honestly didn't expect her to have the sheer nerve to take up The Crown of Radiant Garden."

"So?" asked Lady Tremaine irately, "so what if the child is the new sovereign of a world?"

"You know nothing," said Regina, "Kairi has finally accepted her destiny as queen of Radiant Garden. Not only does she have the rights, privileges and authority that goes with the position, she also the keeper of many secrets that have lain buried on Radiant Garden, locked away in safe keeping until the heir claims her birthright."

"And Kairi now can claim those secrets as her own," said Young Xehanort, "secrets I tried to uncover during my time as Ansem's apprentice, and I would have uncovered them, if I weren't distracted by my research into the darkness."

"Just what kind of secrets are we talking about?" Dio Brando asked.

"That's the thing; no one knows for sure," said Young Xehanort, "some say the secrets are about ancient and deadly magical items. Others say it is a hidden library full of arcane tomes of great and terrible power, while others simply believe it is a vast and glorious treasure vault filled with enough gold and other precious items to make whoever controls it the richest person in the Realms of Light."

"All of which are part of the legends of Radiant Garden," said Regina, "I hear Maleficent tried to gain access to those secrets when she first took over the world, yet her endeavors bore little if any fruit. I guess we'll never know."

"No, we won't, and neither will Kairi," said Columbina as she calmed down enough for Dio Brando and Gaston to release her, "for she is going to die, tonight! Lady Darklight! Go forth to Radiant Garden and destroy Kairi! Wait, where do you think you're going!?"

By then the other villains had noticed that Darklight was already walking out the room, "to go look for Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders. As I said before; if Kairi survived, then the others may still be alive. Perhaps this time they'll put up a better fight."

"To hell with Sora and the others!" shouted Columbina, "you'll do as I say! Now go kill Kairi! Then you can get back to work on destroying six more Keyholes!"

"The Keyholes aren't going anywhere," said Darklight, "and neither is Kairi. Don't worry, I won't stay away too long. I'll be back every few days or so to smash another Keyhole, just to take a break in my search." With that she summoned a Dark Corridor and stepped through it.

"Don't you dare walk away from me, you ungrateful brat!" shouted Columbina as the Dark Corridor closed up, "you think you can do whatever you want!? I made you! I can break you just as easily!"

"She's gone," said The Lord of Illusions.

"And you're going after her," said Columbina as she glared wrathfully at the trickster.

"No way!" exclaimed The Lord of Illusions, "that psychotic girl wants to kill me! You've seen how many of my doppelgangers she's taken out. What do you think she'll do when she finds out that the real me is following her?"

"So _you_ are the real Leslie," said Regina.

"I never said that," said The Lord of Illusions, "it's just that the majority of us doppelgangers are out looking for the Sampo makings. Speaking of which," he then looked at his watch and stood up, "I've got to get back to work. Later, ya'll!" with that he summoned a shimmering gray doorway and stepped through.

"You just can't get good help these days," said Dio Brando in a mocking manner.

"BE SILENT!" shouted Columbina as she pointed her right index finger at Dio Brando. The vile immortal tried to retort yet, to his shock, found he was unable to utter a sound.

"You stole his voice," said an impressed Lady Tremaine, "outstanding! I thought the brute would never shut up."

"I'll do the same to you and anyone else who stirs my ire," said Columbina, "I'll deal with Lady Darklight soon enough. She has no idea that I have a tracking spell on her in case of emergencies. She can go as far from me as she wishes, but she'll always return; one way or another."

"How wickedly devious of you," said Regina.

"You cannot comprehend the depths of my wickedness," said Columbina. She then looked at the Interocitor, which showed Kairi happily accepting a toast of congratulations from her friends and allies.

"As for you, _your majesty_ ," said Columbina in a mocking manner as she glared at Kairi, "you want a war of light verses dark, I'll give you a war."

* * *

 **…someplace else…**

Tess walked through a densely thick forest with a butchered wild boar across her shoulder, sticking to a recently made trail. Around her were the sounds of birds chirping in the upper branches of the trees. Sunlight dappled through the green leaves to create a shifting pattern of light and shadow as the wind moved the branches.

Another minute of walking and Tess smelled burning wood and came upon a small clearing. A lean-to had been constructed near a ring of stones, near which lay Malcolm, tending a fire, his left leg splinted with small branches and vines.

"Sorry I'm late," said Tess, "finding game isn't so easy as it was before." With a grunt of effort she dropped the butchered boar onto the ground near the fire.

"You did well today," said Malcolm as he summoned a large knife and began cutting the boar into more manageable pieces, "and tonight we feast!"

"I was lucky to catch one so stupid," said Tess as she stretched her sore muscles and sat down, "the animals of this forest, they know there's a hunter who can turn invisible, so they're starting to wise up and avoid my traps. If we're gonna stay here any longer, I'm gonna have to get creative."

"I'd help you, but.." said Malcolm as he indicated his broken leg. He then sighed, "you know, magic can pretty much do anything, but if you don't know a specific branch of magic, you're pretty much out of luck in certain situations."

"It's not your fault that you never learned healing magic," said Tess, "well, in a way it is, but I'm not blaming you."

"Oh, you're just being nice to be because you fell on top of me when we landed in this forest," sulked Malcolm.

"I already apologized for breaking your leg," said Tess, "we're past that. All we can do now is move forward and find Sora, Riku and Aiden."

"You've been looking for over a week and no sign of them," said Malcolm, "all the while I've been laying around like a sack of potatoes, and who knows what happened to Kairi, and even more, what Columbina and Darklight are up to?"

"At least we're not as in the dark as we were yesterday," said Tess as she placed some meat over the fire to cook.

At that Malcolm smiled in a knowing way, "you didn't spend the morning just hunting smart boars, right?"

"I finally found a road that lead to a rest stop for trading caravans," said Tess, "I managed to convince the people there that I was a lone passerby and started asking questions, and believe me, did I get answers."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense!" exclaimed Malcolm as he crawled over, wincing at every jolt and bump to his mending leg, "you can start by telling me where the hell we are."

"We're in the Kingdom of Enchancia," said Tess, "in the 20th year of the reign of King Roland II."

"Oh, sure, that really helps," said Malcolm sarcastically.

"There's more," said Tess, "Enchancia's in the middle of fighting an extended feud with the Parzon Republic that's about to escalate into a full scale war."

"Now that's more like it," said an intrigued Malcolm, "do go on."

"It all started several years ago," said Tess, "Roland had just came out of mourning for the death of his first wife. He met and fell in love with a commoner, Miranda, while the feeling was mutual. They hit it off and got married, with Miranda becoming the new Queen of Enchancia.

"Now, Roland already had two children from his first marriage; James and Amber, twins, then aged 8, while Miranda had a daughter, Sofia, then aged 7. At first the children didn't get along that much but quickly bonded, and for a time they all lived happily ever after."

"But not all happy endings last forever," said Malcolm.

"Ain't that the truth," said Tess, "anyway, fast forward to Sofia's 13th birthday. The whole kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms, Enchancia's various friends and allies, celebrated Sofia's ascension to womanhood. Things started to go sour when a representative of the Parzon Republic arrived with a marriage proposal from Baron Silas Dubois, a member of one of Parzon's noble families. Said marriage would bind the two nations closer and open the door for profit and prosperity for all."

"Let me guess," said Malcolm, "the prospective groom turned out to be totally inappropriate."

"The man was not only 40 at the time," said Tess, "but also rumored to be a heartless brute whom only saw Sofia as the means to an heir, among other faults that would take too long to explain."

"Was he a degenerate gambler and a child molester?" asked Malcolm.

"Nothing like that," said Tess, "but such faults would be better than the rumors I heard. Parzon is an industrial nation; the whole place is full of pollutant-belching factories. They ruined their ecosystem; strip mining and deforestation. They have to import all their food and have massive water purification systems in place. But even so, the land, waters and air of Parzon are so polluted, it's affected the biology of their people."

"How badly?" asked Malcolm, "are we talking about mutations and infertility?"

"That and more," said Tess, "Parzon has no magic. The rest of the world has plenty of magic users and magical creatures, but Parzon is completely without magic, so they relied on science to an extreme. But the leaders of Parzon believed, so I heard, that a marriage between one of their nobles and a princess capable of magic would bring magic into Parzon."

"That doesn't make any sense at all," said Malcolm irately, "you can't breed magic into a land without magic, at least not in any way I know."

"Well, it's what Lord Xenu proposed to Rolland and Miranda," said Tess, "he's the Parzon ambassador and overall boss of Parzon, Lord Xenu. Needless to say, Roland and Miranda said the match was emphatically out of the question. Lord Xenu said that the refusal was an outrage and an insult, that there would be a union between Baron Dubois and the Enchancia royal family, one way or another. Next thing you know, the party is attacked by Parzonian commandos. They try to abduct Sofia but wound up kidnapping Amber."

"They were able to save her, right?" Malcolm asked, "They rescued the princess, right?"

"Yes and no," said Tess as she sat down, a grim look on her face, "here's where things really piss me off. By the time Roland mounted a rescue party and reached the Parzonians' hideout, not only had Amber been forced into a marriage ceremony with Baron Dubois, he was in the process of ravaging her in order to get her pregnant."

"He raped her!?" exclaimed Malcolm as he tried to stand up, then winced in pain and clutched at his leg.

"Hey, take it easy!" said Tess as she made Malcolm relax, "I already had to set your bones once."

"Don't remind me," said Malcolm through gritted teeth. He then summoned a small bottle of pills and rattled it, frowning at how few were left. He then shook out one, broke it half and swallowed it.

"If you're still in so much pain, you should take more," said Tess.

"These pills are from Magix," said Malcolm as he vanished the bottle, "and not exactly recommended by the average Magix doctor. They do the job but are highly addictive. I won't get hooked on these things, even if it kills me. Now please go on. What happened to Amber?"

"The rescue party burst into the makeshift bridal suite while Dubois was attempting to consummate the marriage," said Tess, "rutting over Amber like a dog in heat," said Tess, "or so the stories I heard went, no one knows for sure what happened. But one thing's for sure; Roland and the rescue party walked out with Amber, while Dubois was dead." Tess then smiled with righteous glee, "I wish I had been there to see him die, the filthy pig. Seriously, he had the face of a pig, or so I heard."

"What happened to Lord Xenu?" Malcolm asked.

"He managed to evade capture and make it back to Parzon," said Tess, "Roland sent an envoy to the Parzon government, demanding that Xenu be extradited to Enchancia to stand trial for his crimes. Naturally they refused."

"Naturally," agreed Malcolm, "so, why now? Why has it taken this long for Enchancia to go to war with Parzon?"

"Politics," said Tess, "to launch a full-scale invasion of Parzon, Enchancian forces would have to cross a series of mountain passes that are controlled by Ustoria, a small but proud country that seeks to profit from both sides of the conflict. It's taken years for Enchancia to negotiate a right-of-passage treaty. In the meantime, both enemies have been carrying out covert operations across the border; commando raids and acts of espionage, hoping to gain the upper hand for the day when the war would truly begin."

"But what happened to Amber?" Malcolm insisted, "I hope her family did everything they could to help her."

"They tried but her trauma was too deep," said Tess, "severe PTSD and an already present psychological condition, all of it really messed up her mind. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out, while only allowing a few trusted servants in to clean and bring meals, all the while she hides behind a privacy screen. That was four years ago.

"Seeing Amber reduced to such a state broke Roland and Miranda's hearts, while James and Sofia were equally devastated. They and some close friends swore an oath of vengeance, vowing to never rest until Lord Xenu and the rest of those in Parzon responsible for Amber's abduction and rape are punished."

"I hope they do," said Malcolm.

"Me too," said Tess, "but part of me wishes it were otherwise. The people I talked to reminisced on how Sofia was before the incident; how she was loved and admired for her kindness and generosity, her compassion and wisdom, how she always sought the goodness in everyone, her purity of heart."

"A potential Princess of Heart," said Malcolm.

"Not anymore," said Tess in a slightly exasperated tone, "after she swore the oath of vengeance, Sofia threw herself into training for the war. Now she's a hardcore warrior princess whom eagerly awaits for the day she and her friends and stepbrother will present Amber with the flayed hide of Lord Xenu."

"Good grief!" exclaimed Malcolm, "if she does that, if she kills in cold blood, her heart could crack and we'll have another Princess of Dark on the lose! And one is more than enough!"

"Which is why we've got to find Sora and the others," said Tess, "we've got to talk to Sofia before it's too late, if it's not already."

"Then what the hell are sitting around in this shack?" Malcolm asked, "help me make some crutches so we can talk to the princess, save her heart and stop the war."

"There's some other things I heard that may be related," said Tess, "rumors of strange people who may or may not be Parzon agents."

"So we've got spies running around," said Malcolm, "typical of war."

"These aren't any old spies," said Tess, "these spies have bug-like eyes, or so the rumors say. Sound familiar?"

"Raztonians," said Malcolm grimly, "I knew we hadn't seen the last of them! But what are they doing here?"

"I don't know," said Tess, "but if they are here, then our lives will be that much more complicated."

"As if our lives weren't complicated enough," said Malcolm, "so, anything else I need to know? Any other rumors I'd find interesting?"

"Well, there's one more you'd might like, and this one's a real dozy," said Tess, "but try not to throw up."

"No promises," said Malcolm warily.

"Well, it's like this," said Tess, "the other day an entire village was wiped out; not by enemy agents, not by magic, a plague or any known natural disaster. Every single man, woman and child was killed while leaving the buildings and animals mostly untouched, while the bodies of the people were found nearby, piled up in big, gooey, bloody masses."

"You're right," said a disgusted Malcolm, "that is a dozy."

"It gets worse," said Tess, "the bodies showed signs of being crushed, torn and even bitten into, and not by any known animal, but apparently something humanoid, only several meters tall."

"Giants ate them and then tossed them up?" Malcolm asked.

"It seemed that way," said Tess, "but there were no signs of digestion of any kind. Even more so, there were enormous humanoid footprints in the area but they didn't match any of the local giants; there are local giants and none of them eat people."

"This definitely is a mystery," said Malcolm as Tess brought over some branches and vines to work into crutches, "but we can't worry about that, we've got a princess to save!"

* * *

 **…another time and place…**

Marceline, recently restored queen of the vampires, hurriedly floated through the streets of The Candy Kingdom, a large sack over her shoulder as she headed towards the Candy Castle with severe determination, ignoring the shouts of welcome and congratualtions from The Candy People she passed.

Eventually she reached the Castle and flew up towards the upper floors. She intended on knocking on Princess Bubblegum's window, when she passed an open window and heard the familiar voices of Flame Princess, Slime Princess and Hotdog Princess. Marceline hovered outside the window and listened on the conversation between the three princesses.

"I'm telling you, it's weird," said Flame Princess, "people don't go missing without a darn good reason, or a bad reason if you know what I mean."

"Oh, I know what you mean," said Slime Princess, "at least seven people in The Slime Kingdom have disappeared that I know about, and Glob knows how many more are unaccounted for."

"I agree, it's weird," said Hotdog Princess, "but that's no reason to panic."

"And how many of our people have to go missing before we do panic?" asked Flame Princess irately, "almost twenty of The Fire Kingdom's own just up and vanished. I lead the search for the disappeared from one end of The Fire Kingdom to the other and turned up nothing. The Rest of my people are getting scared and I don't have any answers."

"Neither do I," said Hotdog Princess.

"Me neither," said Slime Princess, "wait…wait, no," she then shook her head in denial, "he wouldn't do that, would he?"

"He who?" asked Flame Princess. She then irately put her hands on her hips, "wait, are you talking about…?"

"Ice King? Yeah," said Slime Princess grimly as she crossed her arms.

"You think the Ice King is kidnapping our people?" asked Hotdog Princess, "why?"

"For hostages?" asked Flame Princess, "to force one of us to marry him? Wouldn't surprise me."

"Oh come on, he's not that crazy," said Hotdog Princess.

"He's kidnapped us plenty of times," said Slime Princess, "what's to stop him from kidnapping our people?"

"Simon wouldn't do that," said Marceline as she floated through the window with her sack, startling the three Princesses, "yeah, he's nuts, but not that nuts."

"Well, look who's back," said Flame Princess, "the recently re-crowned Queen of the Vampires. Done sulking about in the dark?"

"Oh, I had plenty more me-time scheduled," said Marceline, "but something happened, something big."

"What kind of big?" asked Hotdog Princess.

"And what's in the sack?" Slime Princess asked cautiously.

"I'll show you later," said Marceline as she made sure the rope securing the sack was good and tight, "first I need to talk to Finn and Bubblegum. You wouldn't happen to know where they are?"

"You want to talk to PB and Finn?" asked Flame Princess, "get in line; we need to talk to them about the rash of disappearances afflicting our Kingdoms."

"It's not just our Kingdoms," said Slime Princess, "people are going missing all over Ooo."

"Mass disappearances," said Marceline in a thoughtful manner, "and then there's this thing," she gave the sack a nudge with her foot, causing whatever was inside to shake violently.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Hotdog Princess as she stood up on her hindquarters in shock, while Slime Princess jumped into Hotdog Princess's forearms in fright.

"Marceline? What is that?" asked a visibly startled Flame Princess.

"Something that shouldn't exist on our world," said Marceline grimly, "something I thought I'd taken care of long ago."

Just then Jake the Dog walked into the room, "hey, Princesses! You seen Finn? Oh, hey, Marceline! You finish those Sudoku and crossword puzzles?"

"No, but I've got other things to worry about," said Marceline.

"Well, if you see Finn," said Jake, "tell him I'm gonna pick up dinner. But if he's not back by the time I get back, I'll start without him…hey, what's in that sack? Looks like it wants to get out."

"Believe me, Jake," said Marceline, "you do not want to know what's in the sack." She then kicked the sack in order to quiet the thing within, only to make it shudder more violently.

"Oh, come on!" said Jake, "I wanna know!"

"No, you don't," insisted Marceline, "and if I had my way…" she then paused and smiled deviously, "you know what, I'll let you take a peek. In fact, I'll give you all a peek." She then began untying the sack.

"Uh…I'm not sure that's a good idea," said a nervous Hotdog Princess.

"It's perfectly safe as long as I've got an eye on it," said Marceline as she finished untying the sack. She held the sack out and prepared to open it, "so come on, it won't bite, hard." She then opened the sack.

The three Princesses and Jake looked in, with Jake standing a few feet away but stretched over to see.

"Oh…sick!" said a nauseated Flame Princess, while Slime Princess and Hotdog Princess backed away in disgust.

"Eeew!" said Jake, "that thing shouldn't even be alive."

"Technically, it's not alive," said Marceline as she retied the sack, "it shouldn't exist, but it does, which is why I need to show it to Finn and Bonnibel. The fate of Ooo and maybe our entire universe is at risk."

* * *

"You sure you want to do this, Princess?" asked Finn as he sat across Princess Bubblegum, "we could always wait until you're ready."

"Finn, I've waited long enough," said Princess Bubblegum, "believe me, I'm ready, and I hope you are."

"Oh, I'm ready," said Finn with joyful eagerness, "I've waited for this for so long, I can't tell you how happy I am."

"Well, I hope you are ready," said Princess Bubblegum as she smiled coyly, "'cause I'm about to rock your world." She then picked up a video game controller and began mashing buttons, "Prepare To Die!"

"Hey! No Fair!" shouted Finn as he picked up another controller and began mashing buttons. He and Princess Bubblegum sat in her room in front of BMO, who's screen displayed a turned-based strategy game involving two armies intent on dominating a map.

"You'll never win that way, Princess!" said Finn, "I've already got the lead on captured territory!"

"You're spreading yourself too far too fast!" said Princess Bubblegum, "once my forces are built up, I'm gonna walk all over you!"

"Not today, Princess!" said Finn.

After several seconds of intense button mashing and more intense looks on the face of the two of them, the game was decided in Princess Bubblegum's favor as her forces overwhelmed Finn's and conquered the map.

"Game Over!" said BMO, "sorry, Finn, but the Princess wins this one."

"Wow! That was great," said Princess Bubblegum as she and Finn sat back in excited exhaustion, wiping sweat from her crowned brow, "I can't believe I missed out on video games for so long. Wanna go again?"

"Heck, yeah!" said Finn as he grabbed his controller and started the game over.

Several minutes of extreme strategy later found Princess Bubblegum the winner again, but this did nothing to deter Finn's enthusiasm. But Princess Bubblegum put her hand over Finn's before he could start the game again.

"Can I tell you something, Finn?" asked Princess Bubblegum.

"Sure, PB," said Finn as he set the controller down, "you can tell me anything."

"Good," said Princess Bubblegum as she sat her controller down, "because what I want to say isn't easy." She took a bracing breath, "I've had a lot to think about, what with losing my crown and getting it back, the crisis with the comet and Orgalorg, then with the vampires, it's all got me thinking."

"About what?" asked Finn.

"About what's important in my life," said Princess Bubblegum as she looked at Finn with serious eyes, "my duties will always lie with The Candy Kingdom and its People, but if there's one thing I've learned from everything that's happened, it's that I've been taking myself too seriously. I need to stop focusing on my duties so much and devote more time to my own happiness."

"You wanna make time for fun?" asked Finn, "well, if you need anyone to play video games with, I'm so there, but don't expect to beat me all the time."

"That's not what I'm talking about," said Princess Bubblegum, "I mean, I'm glad you showed me how much fun video games are, and…" she then looked around in confusion, then saw the door to her bathroom was open. The light was on and she could hear BMO talking to himself, "uh…is he alright?"

"BMO?" asked Finn, "yeah, he's fine, he's just talking to his imaginary friend, Football."

"FOOTBALL IS REAL!" shouted BMO, then resumed his conversation, "that's just Finn and Princess Bubblegum, just ignore them."

"Uh…yeah," said a slightly uncomfortable Princess Bubblegum. She then looked at Finn, "what I'm trying to say, Finn," she then put her hand on Finn's, "is that I'm done denying my happiness. I'm done denying what makes me happy."

"Okay," said Finn, "and…what makes you happy?"

"You, silly," said Princess Bubblegum as she smiled warmly, "All this time I've seen you as a loyal and true friend, a righteous and selfless hero who'll always be there for me. You've stuck by me through thick and thin, through life and even death. Heck, you went to the underworld and convinced Death to give me a second chance at life. If that's not love, I don't know."

"Princess…i….I…!" said a flabbergasted Finn, "I…I…"

"I'm so sorry, Finn," said Princess Bubblegum, "you've had such a hard time and suffered so much heartache, but I'm here now and I'm ready to try love."

"Princess," said Finn.

"Call me Bonnie," she said as she leaned close.

"Okay, Bonnie," said Finn as he too leaned close and they kissed for the first time since Princess Bubblegum reagified.

But then Jake stretched through the window, "FINN! YOU IN HERE!?"

At that Finn and Princess Bubblegum screamed in fright, while Jake screamed as well.

"JAKE!" snapped Finn.

"Oh...sorry!" said Jake, "didn't mean to interrupt! But you gotta see what Marceline brought! You too, PB!"

"Marceline's back?" asked Princess Bubblegum.

"Yeah, and she brought this really gross thing," said Jake, "you gotta see it to believe it!"

"Jake, is this some kind of joke?" asked Finn.

"No, man," said Jake, "this is real, and really big, really, really, really big."

"Wow, that's big," said Finn.

Just then Lumpy Space Princess burst through the wall, "OH MY GLOB, YOU GUYS!"

"LSP!" exclaimed Princess Bubblegum, "what the frick!? That's my wall!"

"Who cares about some dumb wall?!" shouted Lumpy Space Princess, "you gotta see this! Come on, you guys! You've gotta see this!"

"Hey, wait a second!" said Jake, "they're gonna see what I gotta show them."

"Oh, lump off, Jake!" said Lumpy Space Princess, "this is bigger than whatever lumping thing you've got! Come on! You gotta see it before it goes away!" with that she burst through the wall again.

"Well, that was nice of her to drop by," said Peppermint Butler as he pulled out a dustpan and brush and began cleaning up the mess.

"What do you think?" asked Finn.

"Might as well see what's gotten her lumps in a twist," said Princess Bubblegum.

"Okay, but we're gonna check out what Marceline brought right after," said Jake. With that they walked out onto the balcony, where Lumpy Space Princess was waiting and eagerly pointing up in the sky.

"Okay, the clouds," said Princess Bubblegum, "we're looking at clouds."

"Not clouds!" snapped Lumpy Space Princess, "That thing! That weird tornado!"

"Huh?" asked Princess Bubblegum as she, Finn and Jake looked up at where Lumpy Space Princess was pointing, to a vortex of clouds rotating in the sky.

"Huh, that is a weird tornado," said Finn.

"Wait, that's no tornado," said a worried Princess Bubblegum, "that's a…"

Just then a portal formed within the cloud vortex, and from it, with an accompanying raspberry sound, shot Riku, whom landed hard on Lumpy Space Princess.

"OOW! WHAT THE LUMP!" exclaimed Lumpy Space Princess.

"You okay, man?" asked Finn as he looked at Riku.

"What do you think, Finn!?" whined Lumpy Space Princess, "how you would you feel if a total stranger fell out of the sky onto you!?"

"I meant this guy," said Finn

"Well, then," sobbed Lumpy Space Princes, "would you kindly tell him to GET THE LUMP OFF ME ALREDY!?"

"Hey, I'm sorry," said Riku as he regained his senses, while Princess Bubblegum and Finn helped him stand up, "I didn't mean to land on you after…after…what just happened."

"Dude, you just got farted out of a portal," laughed Jake.

"Uh, yeah, right," said a slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed Riku.

"You must have been through something terrible, man," said Finn.

"Yeah," said Riku. He then looked up at the dissipating clouds, "and it looks like I can't go back the way I came."

Just then came the sound of terrified screams below. Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum, Lumpy Space Princess and Riku, all looked over the balcony and saw Slime Princess, Hotdog Princess and Flame Princess, being chased by a Heartless, with the creature chased by Marceline in turn.

"What the jam is that thing?!" demanded Princess Bubblegum.

"That's what we wanted to show you and Finn," said Jake, "that thing is just gross."

"Hey, man! What are you doing?!" exclaimed Jake as Riku jumped off the balcony, summoning his Keyblade on the way down.

"Whoa!" said Finn and Jake as Riku landed in front of Slime Princess, Hotdog Princess and Flame Princess, whom ran into each other as they tried to avoid hitting Riku. The three princesses collapsed in a heap as Riku calmly walked up to the encroaching Heartless.

This Heartless was unlike any Riku had seen before. It had the physical proportions of a Neo Shadow, yet it seemed to be made entirely out of rotting garbage, and smelled like it too.

Marceline, wielding her bass axe, delivered a powerful chop that cut the creature in half. Yet instead of exploding in a puff of smoke and releasing a crystal heart, the two halves of the Garbage Heartless regenerated into complete Heartless.

"Oh darn!" exclaimed Marceline, "I missed the sweet spot!"

"What sweet spot?!" asked Finn as he stood on Jake's back as he stretched to the ground. Finn drew his sword and prepared to face the two Garbage Heartless.

"You gotta hit it in just the right spot!" said Marceline as she readied her axe again, "otherwise they'll just keep splitting and regenerating!"

"Or use one of these," said Riku as he stabbed one of the Garbage Heartless with his Keyblade, destroying it.

"Whoa, cool!" said an impressed Jake, while Finn and Marceline looked equally impressed.

But then they both heard Slime Princess and Hotdog Princess scream in absolute terror as the other Garbage heartless grabbed them.

"Get Away From My Friends!" shouted Princess Bubblegum as she and Peppermint Butler ran out the door, both carrying magical shotguns. Princess Bubblegum fired twice, blasting off both the creature's arms and releasing Slime Princess and Hotdog Princess.

But the creature regenerated its severed arms, while said arms regenerated into complete Garbage Heartless.

"No one regenerates in my kingdom without my permission!" said an outraged Princess Bubblegum as she cocked her shotgun.

"No, you'll only make more!" shouted Marceline as she flew up to and chopped into one of the Garbage Heartless. This time the angle of attack was just right to destroy the creature, "that's how to get rid of them!"

"Oh, like this!" said Finn as he sliced into the second Garbage Heartless at just the right angle, destroying it, while Flame Princess merely incinerated the last one.

At that Slime Princess and Hotdog Princess let out coordinated sighs of relief, "thank Glob that's over," said Slime Princess.

"Marceline! What the jam is wrong with you!?" bellowed Princess Bubblegum as she walked up to said vampire queen, "bringing that horrible thing into the Candy Kingdom, what the flipping jam?!"

"Hey, I didn't mean to let it loose," said Marceline as she tuned the strings on her bass, "I just wanted to show you that The Heartless are back."

"Heartless?" asked Princess Bubblegum. She then closed her eyes in frightened thought, "there's a name I'd hope I'd never have to hear again."

"What are you talking about, Bonnie?" asked Finn.

"It was a long, long time ago," said Marceline, "you know how I originally became a vampire, well, I was hunting other things besides vamps."

"The the darkness has always been a threat to our world, Finn," said Princess Bubblegum, "it was the darkness, infested in mortal hearts, that caused The Mushroom War and all but wiped out humanity. But," she looked at Marceline, "I thought we wiped The Heartless off the face of Ooo at the founding of The Candy Kingdom."

"Well, they're back," said Marceline, "and they're different, way different."

"And gross," said Jake, "why'd that thing look and smell like garbage?"

"Heartless adapt to the worlds they infest," said Riku, "but I couldn't even guess how or why these Heartless took the form of trash."

"It's lumping gross, that's why," said Lumpy Space Princess.

"Well, whatever the reason," said Marceline as she hovered up to Riku and held out her hand, "thanks for the assist." At that Riku shook her hand.

"And are you single?" asked Slime Princess as she and Hotdog Princess looked up at Riku with adoring eyes.

"Uh, no," said a slightly uncomfortable Riku. He then looked at Finn and Jake, "Are all the girls around here like…like…?"

"Eager for a boyfriend? Nah," said Princess Bubblegum.

"Wait, did Finn just call you Bonnie?" asked Marceline, "oh my glob! You two have so hooked up!"

At that Finn and Princess Bubblegum looked highly exasperated and embarrassed.

"Is this normal?" Riku whispered to Jake.

"It is for The Land of Ooo," said Jake, "where are you from anyway?"

"Someplace where I hope my friends are," said Riku as he looked up at the night sky, "Sora, I hope you and the others are somewhere safe."

* * *

 **…Another Place and Time…**

Aiden sat on the driver's seat of a wagon pulled by a gray horse down a cobblestone road. Wearing a dusty travel cloak, Aiden's clothes were torn and ragged, his body were covered by small cuts and bruises, while a large bandage covered his left eye.

His right eye burned with fury and determination as he looked ahead down the road, intent on reaching his destination by nightfall.

But then the horse stooped and neighed in fright, rearing back on its hind legs as it tried to get away.

Aiden managed to calm the horse, then looked back at what terrified the animal. In the wagon was a large square-like object covered by a tarp. Something large and angry rattled and hissed beneath the tarp.

"I told you to keep quiet, you monster!" snapped Aiden as he pulled out a metal rod and climbed into the wagon. He then pulled part of the tarp up, revealing the square object to be a metal cage. A black claw reached out and tried to grab Aiden. He swatted the claw away with the rod and hit one of the cage bars, producing a distinct ringing sound. The creature pulled its claw back in, shuddering violently.

"You'll get more of that if you don't shut up," said Aiden as he lowered the tarp, "and believe me, this is the least I can do to you. And just wait until we get where we're going, they're gonna tear you apart."

The creature within the cage let out a menacing hiss, then went silent.

"Whatever," said Aiden as he got back into the driver's seat again, "you'll get yours soon enough." He flicked the reigns and the horse started forward again.

* * *

 **…Somewhere?...**

"Wow, I feel like I've been here forever," said Sora as he tumbled through the Möbius Continuum, "or maybe I just got here." He then pulled out his phone for the latest of countless times and saw, once again, the battery was dead, "it sucks not knowing what time it is.

"If I don't find a way out soon, I'll go crazy. Or maybe I'm already crazy. Maybe I've always been here. Yeah, maybe this is real and everything else was a dream.

"No, Kairi and the others are real! I'm not crazy! I'm just lost in…this," he then waved at the infinite expanse of the primal darkness.

"I'd say I was getting dizzy," said Sora as he continued to tumble, "but there's no up or down here. There's no left, right, forward or backwards either. There's nothing.

"But I'm here, so I'm something and this is nothing. I am existence in this place of non-existence. Hmmm, either I am going crazy or I'm getting smarter. At this rate I'll be the smartest man in the world." At that he laughed, "what am I saying? I'm the only one here, so I am the smartest man in the world!"

At that Sora sighed with exasperation, "great, I'm talking to myself. I hope Kairi and the others find me before I really do go crazy."

 **The End of Volume 10**

 _And that's it, fellow readers and writers! Well, our heroes certainly are in more than one sticky situation. But do not despair, for Sora, Riku and Aiden will be found, but not before Tess and Malcolm get involved in their greatest, most enchanting and most bizarre adventure yet! For next volume will not only take us to the world of Sofia the First, but also, among other things, Attack on Titan. So get ready, fellow readers and writers, it's going to get wild!_

 _Coming Soon_

 **Kingdom Hearts: Path of the Keyblade Master**

 **Volume 11: Sofia's War**

 _See you then!_


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